Abstract
This study was on causes and effect of voting behaviour. Three objectives were raised which included: To find out the causes of election voting behavior in Jigawa Gubernatorial election 2019, to find out effect of voting behavior in Jigawa Gubernatorial election 2019 and to find the factors that discourage the voters not to get engaged in electoral activities Jigawa Gubernatorial election 2019. The total population for the study is 75 residents from Auyo local government of Jigawa state. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies.
Chapter one
Introduction
1.1Background of the study
One of the most exciting questions regarding elections is not always about who is the winner but how the voting community makes their political decisions to vote the candidates (Antwi, 2018). Direct election is an implementation of the post-reform democratization process. According to Diamond, Linz, and Lipset (1990), one of the main conditions for a democratic political system government is political participation that involves as many people as possible in the fair and equitable elections. In line with what Diamond, Linz, and Lipset convey about the importance of political participation in democracy, Verba, Schlozman, and Brady (1995) in Mujani (2007) also state that publics’ participation is the heart of democracy. From these experts’ views, it can be concluded that publics’ participation has a vital role in keeping democracy.
In the direct election, voters have an important position and role as a determinant of election results and the future government’s direction. The election is a momentum for voters to determine whether a government will change or not, likewise with policies in all government sectors. Quoting Larry Diamond’s statement (in Friedman, 2010), if you do not get the right government, it is very difficult to get other truths related to the government. Therefore, the study of how voters make choices in an election’s momentum is interesting.
Of all possible behaviors a person emits in the course of his life, few may have as many implications as the behavior of voting for a party in an election. By casting a vote, the individual person, directly or indirectly, lays down a course of action for parliaments and governments, and, thus, for the sociopolitical and physical organization of the country he or she inhabits. Through elections, leaders have risen to power who dramatically changed the course of world politics and instigated policies affecting the daily lives of millions. While socially relevant, voting behavior seldom has been researched from a behavior analytical perspective (an exception is Lamal & Greenspoon, 1992). For a long time, the study of voting has been dominated by normative considerations, ascribing to the average voter a strong sense of rationality with regard to political matters. The first psychological investigations of electoral behavior quickly shattered this optimistic vision, but they replaced it by a form of semi-rationality, according to which the voter’s choices at the voting booths are determined by more or less stable set of mental constructs (political beliefs, attitudes, values, etc.) (Visser, 1994a). Although political psychologists heartily disagree on the exact nature and number of these mental dispositions, semi-rational models have persisted until the present day (Visser, 1994b)
Voting behavior is a set of personal electoral activities, including participation in electoral campaigns, turnout at the polls, and choosing whom to vote outlines the comprehensiveness of the study of voting behavior (Bratton: 2013). In that light, attempts have been made to understand national voting behavior and various factors that influence voters in determining voter’s choice.
Statement of the problem
Works have been done on the question of holding free and fair election system, factors that influence voter’s choices such as voter’s ethnic religious identity, voting simulation models, and voting pattern and trends. There are three kinds of voters; such as i) Regular Voter, who get involved in election-related activities and cast their vote regularly; ii) Intermittent Voters, who get involved in election-related activities and cast their vote but not as regularly as the regular voters do; and iii) Non-Casting Voters; who don’t get involved in election-related activities and don’t cast their vote. jigawa Gubernatorial election 2019, generally speaking, roughly more than 80% of the voters cast their votes and the rest tend not to cast their votes. This number (80%) is quite in tune with a working democracy. Nonetheless an enigma prevails and that is: Although voter turnout rate is good enough compared to national election why is it that some voters cast their votes while a section of the voters no matter how small or large that size might be. What are the factors that determine one large section of the voters to vote and what are the factors that discourage other section of the voters not to get engaged in electoral activities and turnout to vote? Based on this the study wants to investigate causes and effect of voting behavior. Case study of jigawa Gobernatorial election 2019
Objective of the study
The objectives of the study are;
- To find out the causes of election voting behavior in Jigawa Gubernatorial election 2019
- To find out effect of voting behavior in Jigawa Gubernatorial election 2019
- To find the factors that discourage the voters not to get engaged in electoral activities Jigawa Gubernatorial election 2019
Research question
- What are the causes of election voting behavior in Jigawa Gubernatorial election 2019?
- What is the effect of voting behavior in Jigawa Gubernatorial election 2019?
- What are the factors that discourage the voters not to get engaged in electoral activities Jigawa Gubernatorial election 2019?
Research hypotheses
For the successful completion of the study, the following research hypotheses were formulated by the researcher;
H0: there are nor causes of election voting behavior in Jigawa Gubernatorial election 2019
H1: there are causes of election voting behavior in Jigawa Gubernatorial election 2019
H02: there is no effect of voting behavior in Jigawa Gubernatorial election 2019
H2: there is effect of voting behavior in Jigawa Gubernatorial election 2019
H03: there are no factors that discourage the voters not to get engaged in electoral activities Jigawa Gubernatorial election 2019
H3: there are factors that discourage the voters not to get engaged in electoral activities Jigawa Gubernatorial election 2019
Significance of the study
This study will give a clear insight on the causes and effect of voting behavior in Jigawa Gubernatorial election 2019. The result of the study will help public to the factors that discourage voters not to take part in election and how it affects the democracy of the state. The study will also serve as a reference to others researcher that will embark on the related topic
Scope and limitation of the study
The scope of the study covers causes and effect of voting behavior in Jigawa Gubernatorial election 2019. The study will be limited to Jigawa Gubernatorial election 2019.
The researcher encounters some constrain which limited the scope of the study;
- a) AVAILABILITY OF RESEARCH MATERIAL: The research material available to the researcher is insufficient, thereby limiting the study
- b) TIME: The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance wider coverage as the researcher has to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study
Definition of terms
Voting behavior:
Voting behavior is a form of electoral behavior. Understanding voters’ behavior can explain how and why decisions were made either by public decision-makers, which has been a central concern for political scientists or by the electorate.
Causes: a person or thing that gives rise to an action, phenomenon, or condition.
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