Despotism in the Twenty-First Century: The Case of Nigeria’s Democratic Despotism

Despotism and democracy are increasingly becoming so indistinguishable that scholars often treat despotic governments as democratic, even when those governments are formed through controversial elections and when they spin democratic institutions to suit their tyrannical motives. This chapter draws upon the frequently obscured analytical differences between government and governance to dissect despotism in twenty-first century West Africa, using the poorly understood case of Nigeria’s democratic despotism.