Chapter Three Understanding a'Power Broker': The Road Transport Workers Unions in the Context of Election Security 'Lai Olurode 3.1 Introduction Perhaps, it is necessary to state upfront that the overarching philosophical and theoretical premise of this paper is one that assumes democracy and the freedom that it offers is a platform for the majority to harvest social goods while simultaneously ventilating their anger. Democracy rests on clean elections as its infrastructure and nourisher. If elections themselves, are to be regarded as credible, a good register of voters is required, so are a good legal framework, sound voter education, internal party democracy and viable political parties among others. When elections go under or against these standards, the threat to democratization becomes obvious. In Africa and generally, democracy can be imperilled and crippled by election insecurity. There are many players in election security, some operate at the core, others at the periphery but, acting in synergy, both can confer credibility on the electoral process. So, when elections are secured, indirectly, access to social good is being expanded and poverty is simultaneously mitigated. Intrinsically, people are happy to be part of a political process where votes count. They become more trusting of government institutions and more civil in their public conduct. Participatory development is key to sustainable development and is an outward expression of the binding nature of social contract. 42 43