THE CONCEPT OF DEMOCRACY IN THOMAS AQUINAS’ POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY: TOWARDS AN EVALUATION OF DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE IN NIGERIA
Democracy as a form of governance has become very popular in contemporary times as the preferred option. Theoretically, it is founded on the principle of the direct or indirect involvement of all in the affairs of governance. However, its practice varies from place to place. In this paper, we critically analyse Thomas Aquinas’ understanding of democracy as found in his commentaries on Aristotle’s politics. The aim is to evaluate the practice of democracy in Nigeria using the paradigm of Aquinas’ understanding of the concept. We argued that the form of government in Nigeria is a travesty of genuine democracy. Consequently, against the current apathy of the citizenry, we propose that they get more practically involved in the affairs of governance, by ensuring that only those who genuinely have the interest of the people at heart are elected to political offices.
Keywords: aquinas’, concept, democracy, democratic, evaluation, governance, nigeria, philosophy, political, thomas