DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS

ABSTRACT

The main purpose of this study is to examine democracy and political participation in tertiary institutions, using university of Benin as a case study. During the course of this study, five research questions were raised to guide the study. The frequency mean and standard deviation was used for data collection analysis. The instrument was validated and administered to one hundred students in the University of Benin. The findings of the study revealed that: the level of political participation among students in tertiary institutions is low. Students are not interested in political activities because they consider politics a distraction to their academic work. Students are very skeptical about getting involved in political activities in tertiary institutions and students in lower class levels seldomly participate in political activities as compared to students in higher levels who are front runners in political activities. Class level is a fundamental factor when getting involved in political activities because students participation in political activates is most times based on class level. It is recommended that government should ensure that the issue of state of origin or tribal affiliation does not affect the students’ participation in politics; and government should ensure that all students in the tertiary institutions are given equal right to participate in students union regardless of tribal affiliation.