Experience of Violence and Non-Electoral Political Participation Among Nigerians

Abstract

Most studies on political participation suggest that social capital is an important factor for individuals to express their political agency. This study provides another perspective—the violence perspective. There has been a debate about the direction of the association between violence and political participation, and most of these studies have focused on electoral participation and civic engagement. This study seeks to examine how the experience of non-domestic violence (NDV) are associated with non-electoral political participation (NEP) in Nigeria. Using the seventh round of the Nigerian Afrobarometer dataset, findings from the study show that individuals who experienced NDV were more likely to be active in non-electoral political activities. The findings of this study have broader implications for the importance of the norms and values that inform engagement in the political realm, especially in developing countries.