In 2015, Nigeria''s voters cast out the ruling People''s Democratic Party (PDP). Here, A. Carl LeVan traces the political vulnerability of Africa''s largest party in the face of elite bargains that facilitated a democratic transition in 1999. These ''pacts'' enabled electoral competition but ultimately undermined the party''s coherence. LeVan also crucially examines the four critical barriers to Nigeria''s democratic consolidation: the terrorism of Boko Haram in the northeast, threats of Igbo secession in the southeast, lingering ethnic resentments and rebellions in the Niger Delta, and farmer-pastoralist conflicts. While the PDP unsuccessfully stoked fears about the opposition''s ability to stop Boko Haram''s terrorism, the opposition built a winning electoral coalition on economic growth, anti-corruption, and electoral integrity. Drawing on extensive interviews with a number of politicians and generals and civilians and voters, he argues that electoral accountability is essential but insufficient for resolving the representational, distributional, and cultural components of these challenges.
