Abstract
Ghana has been experimenting with the participatory policy making approach that allows citizenry engagement in the formulation and implementation of public policies in recent times. In many ways the approach enhances the opportunity structures for consolidating the country’s democratic credentials by allowing citizens to share in the ownership of governance decisions. In this paper, we draw illustrations from the participatory strategies used by an adhoc body known as the Constitution Review Commission (CRC) established to study and make recommendations for the amendment of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution. The paper shows that although the idea of citizenry participation has intrinsic nation-building value for which reason it can be instrumental in kneading multi-ethnic countries together, paradoxically, against the innovative and comprehensive strategies adopted by the CRC, the approach was hindered by a series of inherent challenges that serve to perpetuate existing socio-political inequalities by privileging educated, urban, and relatively organized Ghanaians over their underprivileged and traditionally marginalized counterparts, especially those in the rural areas.
Highlights
In the period immediately following independence, policy making in Ghana followed the tradition of the bureaucratic approaches that confined participation in the policy space to bureaucrats and a few individuals (Juma and Clark, 1995; Ohemeng, 2005; Kpessa, 2011)
The paper shows that the idea of citizenry participation has intrinsic nation-building value for which reason it can be instrumental in kneading multi-ethnic countries together, paradoxically, against the innovative and comprehensive strategies adopted by the Constitution Review Commission (CRC), the approach was hindered by a series of inherent challenges that serve to perpetuate existing socio-political inequalities by privileging educated, urban, and relatively organized Ghanaians over their underprivileged and traditionally marginalized counterparts, especially those in the rural areas
Drawing on the work of the Constitution Review Commission in Ghana, this paper examines the participatory processes in the context of a developing country by disaggregating and discussing the specific strategies the CRC adopted in engaging Ghanaians
Summary
In the period immediately following independence, policy making in Ghana followed the tradition of the bureaucratic approaches that confined participation in the policy space to bureaucrats and a few individuals (Juma and Clark, 1995; Ohemeng, 2005; Kpessa, 2011). Drawing on the work of the Constitution Review Commission in Ghana, this paper examines the participatory processes in the context of a developing country by disaggregating and discussing the specific strategies the CRC adopted in engaging Ghanaians. It shows that the idea of citizenry participation is a good one, in the context of a postcolonial state like Ghana, the approach was hindered by a series of inherent challenges with the potential to perpetuate existing socio-political inequalities that enhance the opportunity structures of privileged Ghanaians over their underprivileged counterparts. Without disputing the enormity of the inherent constrains associated with participatory policy making in the context of a country like Ghana, the paper concludes with a discussion of some of the major symbolic significances of the approach as deployed by the CRC
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