Democracy and Perceived Public Confidence in The Judiciary: Roles of Socio-Economy and Gender

Abstract

The study investigated public perception of the judiciary as a fair plank of justice system in Nigeria democracy based on an analysis of the Enugu State Judiciary. Two hundred and sixteen (216) residents of Enugu State from 9 local government areas participated in the study. Participants comprised males and females categorized into 5 social groups - top civil servants above grade level 12, political office holders in the local  government and the capital city; petti traders, the unemployed and the underemployed youths. Participants’ age ranged between 25 and 55 years with a mean age of 33.72 years. Data collection was aided by use of Judicial Perception Questionnaire (JPQ) developed by the researchers.Data analysis using two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) indicate significant influence of political class on perception of judiciary as a fair plank of justice system in Nigeria, F(1,212) = 8.15, p<.05. The study revealed non-significant influence of gender and non-significant interaction of political class and gender on the perception of the judiciary as a fair plank of justice system in Nigeria.The results were discussed in terms of their implications for  citizen’s attitude change and unbiased judicial reform in Enugu State and Nigeria in general.

Key words: Judiciary; Democracy; Public perception; corruption; Enugu State