IDEAL INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL

The study titled “Electoral Reforms and Democratic Consolidation in West Africa: A comparative study of Nigeria and Ghana’s Fourth Republic investigated the role of electoral reforms in promoting democratic consolidation in West Africa, a sub region that has in recent times witnessed a resurgence of military coups and counter coups, democratic decline occasioned by electoral malpractices, manifested in forms like election results mutilations and manipulations, vote buying, registration of under aged voters, electoral violence, political apathy expressed in low voters turn out, endemic poverty, amongst others have posed a great challenge to democratic consolidation. To carry out the study, Data were generated from secondary sources and analyzed qualitatively. The study was anchored on the institutional theory of democratic consolidation as its theoretical framework. The study findịngs revealed that electoral reforms have the prospects of enhancing democratic consolidation in West Africa in general and Nigeria and Ghana in particular and has contributed immensely in strengthening the electoral process and enhancing democratic consolidation more in Ghana than in Nigeria but has not significantly promoted democratic consolidation as allegations of electoral malpractice, pockets of electoral violence, electoral apathy, and other election related vices still persist. The study recommends, amongst others, periodic electoral reforms, amendment of some relevant sections of the 1999 and 1992 Nigeria and Ghana Constitutions, value reorientation for more civic engagements amongst bothers as condịtions necessary to ensure the promotion of democratic consolidation through electoral reforms not just for Nigeria and Ghana, but for the West African sub region particularly and for Africa generally.

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