JUDICIAL ACTIVISM AND ITS IMPACT ON CITIZENS’ POLITICAL BEHAVIOUR IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The study reviewed literatures on judicial activism and its impact on citizens’ politicalbehaviour in Nigeria. Several literatures were reviewed; from the literatures statement of the problem wasderived. The study variables were conceptualised on the basis of definitions, components, and its impacton the citizens’ political behaviour. Theoretically, rational choice model was adopted for the study, thetheory is summarized as follows: Citizen can always make a decision when confronted with a range ofalternatives; The citizen ranks all the alternatives facing him in order of his preferences in such a way thateach is either preferred to, indifferent to, or inferior to each other; the citizen preference ranking istransitive; he always chooses from among the possible alternatives that which ranks highest in hispreference ordering; and he always makes the same decision each time he is confronted with the samealternatives. By implication, the reviewed of the paper showed that there is nexus between judicial activismand citizens’ political behaviour. This suggest that political psychologists, and other experts in relatedfields should as matter of urgency conduct seminars/workshops where the citizens will be educated on theneed and important of judicial activism and political behaviour.