The Democratic Structure of Yoruba Political-Cultural Heritage

Introduction Looking through the pre-colonial epoch in Yoruba political and cultural history, one can see some elements of democracy featured in pre-colonial and traditional Yoruba social and political organization. And while it may be true that some tension exists between the monarchic nature of society and its democratic features, it remains that the social and political organization of traditional Yoruba society demonstrated some democratic values, and thus traditional was established on what can be called a participatory democracy. ********** Democratic Values Democracy emphasizes that power should be shared among people of different categories, and that sharing of power must also be acknowledged by those who hold power directly and those whose ownership of power is by mere inference. For the Athenians, democracy involves rotation in office, and the filling of offices by lot and enlargement of governing bodies (Sabine 1973: 28). Hence democracy emphasizes that values should not be forced upon any people against their will, and stipulates liberty, the separation of power, majority rule, and the sovereignty of the people (Brecht 1959). Furthermore, the ethics of democracy, according to Sabine, regard mutual concession and compromise as ways of reaching agreements, which over all were more satisfactory than any that could be reached by the dominance of one interest of one party over all the others (Sabine 1973: 844). And conversely in this position, democracy does not conceive a community as a constellation of impersonal forces but rather a complex of human beings and human interests that upholds the ethos of resolving human antagonistic interests through negotiation. Larry Diamond and some other scholars on the subject emphasize the point that democracy involves contests among individuals and organized groups for all positions in government (Diamond 1988: xvi). These contests for positions in government should be done at regular intervals without the use of force or any threat of force as democracy works to emphasize civil and political liberties. Viewed this way, democracy recognizes the differences in human interests and put structures in place to provide the means for the genuine meeting of the minds, and considers 'politics' as the area of negotiation and political institutions as agencies to make possible the interchanges of opinion and understanding on which successful negotiation depends. Thus democracy gives primacy to political and moral values of equality, reciprocity, and respect for the views of others. According to Salim A. Salim, democratization involves free and unfettered exercise of fundamental freedoms of--expression, association, and political choice. It also involves the ability of all citizens to participate in the process of governance (Salim 1990: 29, Mieder 2003: 259-301). This spirit of democracy is expressed in President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address according to which democracy is "the government of the people, by the people, and for the people" (Salami 2004: 315-328, Held 1998: 1-10). This expression "of the people" points to the power of citizens to choose those to rule and to ensure that they are governed in conformity with the general good of the society. In the same way, the expression "of the people" suggests that democracy is a system of government whose constitutional rules, principles, and procedures are set up by the people themselves. In this sense, democracy enables people to participate in decision-making concerning their lives, community, and society (Gyekye 1997: 133-134, Busia 1975: 453-455). Therefore this understanding of democracy stresses the notion of the people which place democracy as a system that gives institutional expression to the will of the people reflected in the American Declaration of Independence set July 4, 1776 which says ". governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed" that recognizes the inalienable right and power of the governed to remove any government that no longer serves the general good of the community with the emphasis on the idea of representation wherein every citizen will be assured of representation in the scene of power. …