Coalition of two or more political parties comprising strong political actors(what we refer as political forces) should not be given scant attention in political studies.
When major political gladiators begin to align and realign during pre-elections, it threatens political permutations and stability within a given geo-politics.
From the perspective of post-behaviouralsm, individual political actor, is selfish, aggressive, domineering and conflict-personified. He does everything within his powers to control the state-craft for authoritative allocation of scarce values(what we refer as political resources).
This behavioural dispositions is acceptable, especially when morality is detached from politics. Morality is not a subject of study in party politics, just as darkness is not a subject of political history of a people. Please note that we will continue to challenge euro-centric history textbooks claiming that Mongo Park discovered River Niger.
Indeed, using explanatory and predatory paradigms as point of departure, the need to intellectualize politics and morality become very crucial. it is, therefore, imperative to situate the key to generational causes of conflicts in party politics anywhere in the world. According to Nicolo Machiavelli, however a politician captured political power is not a subject of intellectual debate. What is pertinent is his capacity to effectively use his political office to effect necessary changes for greater good of the society. Thus, killing the opponent to assume political power is against morality, but necessary-cum acceptable parameters at the disposal of a political actors.
The above analytical and explanatory paradigm is supported by Games Theory. According to this theory, all political actors strive to maximize their capabilities. Consequently, whatever actors do to undermine or weaken their opponents in any given contest is allowed in the game.
Therefore, political parties wishing to capture political power for authoritative decisions/allocation of values doesn’t sleep after Primaries. Rather, it hibernates to map out Implementable strategies and their alternative course of actions to weaken her opponents in the general contest.
Similarly, a political party wishing to justify her pre-elections political decisions(strictly guided decisions) doesn’t celebrate her triumphal at Primaries like political latecomers. Rather, she moves to the ‘political wilderness’ praying that all those injured by her guided decisions should not vanish to her immediate enemies(other political parties).
Hence, political parties in advanced democracies attempt with fair degree of objectivity to woo as many politically injured actors as possible to their camps, but certainly not in their political inner room.
Thus, COALITION is undoubtedly a formidable political strategy at the disposal of aggrieved political actors all over the contemporary word.
Thus, winning any election requires STRATEGY. Developing STRATEGIES to weaken opponents requires intelligent and cerebral men and women. This largely explains why most political parties in advanced democracies of the contemporary global system spend colossally to recruit renowned political strategists immediately after Primaries.
Thus, politics is idea-driven. Those to think out strategies to weaken opponents must be those with track records of previously marshaled out strategies in a similar political war.
A political party who fails to perceive General Election as WAR often dies at political battle background. When Election is conceptualized as WAR, a serious political party most often deploys specific strategic framework, with its Plan B methodological orientation to deal with her identified opponents, saboteurs in her midst and adopt field work approach(multi-cultural studies)to understudy critical variables like voting pattern and influencing factors in specific geo-political enclaves within her domain.
Therefore, neglecting the influence of COALITION by dissatisfied political actors in political behaviour of political parties is like a woman going to the market without a dime on her purse.
This period requires STRATEGY rather than JUBILATION and CELEBRATION.
“…reflection on the above theorization is hypercritical and sine-qua-non to the efficacy of strategic formulations at this auspicious political moment….”
All typos are deeply regretted.
“I do not romance with Pen and Paper”.
Dr Chris Nwagboso writes from
Umuehim Nvosi, in
Isiala Ngwa South LGA, Abia State, Nigeria.
