The rise and fall of ideological and non-ideological parties: a comparative analysis of the workers’ party of Brazil and People’s Democratic Party of Nigeria

Abstract

The workers’ Party of Brazil (Partido dos Trabalhadores, PT) came to power in 2002 and ruled for thirteen years before losing power in 2016. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of Nigeria was formed in 1998 and clinched power in 1999 and ruled for sixteen years before it lost power to the opposition in 2015. This study examines the resiliency, undoing and eventual fall of two large parties that emerged and ruled very populous countries in the developing world. The study generated its data from secondary sources and employed content analytical technique. Adopting the group theory of politics, the study underscores that the tendencies of both parties to virtually rule unchallenged through election racketeering and dirty deals resulted to institutional decay and widespread dissatisfaction. Thus, as the economy and the society deteriorated, as exemplified by rising poverty, unbridled corruption, civil unrest and insurgency, the public woke up through organized opposition and dethroned these ruling parties. The study recommends that institutional strengthening and political accountability are critical to sustainable democratic rule and ruling parties must constantly watch out for the patience of citizens as they would seize every available space to engineer a change in the status quo when pushed to the extreme.