Politics without Parties: Reflections on the Union Government Proposals in Ghana

Abstract

Ghana, first sub-Saharan African country to achieve independence after World War II, has experienced several diverse forms of government, including a Westminster-style parliamentary democracy, a socialist single-party republic, and two military regimes following coups d'etat in 1966 and 1972. Like most of developing states of West Africa, Ghana has been plagued by post-independence political instability. In fact, search for a permanent and viable solution to what appears almost as a persistent governmental crisis-a crisis of political legitimacy, of credibility, confidence and trust in existing political institutions-seems to be dominant public preoccupation in most West African nations today. In a recent, perceptive review of three major works on contemporary Ghanaian politics, Paul Ladouceur concludes that the 'political kingdom' has come to mean, not to govern, or to govern wisely, but rather to win by election or by a coup. Ghana has entered a period of political stagnation parallel to economic stagnation of last decade or two. Hopefully it will nonetheless find its way to a representative and a stable form of government, perhaps different from what it might be expected (1977: 348) [emphasis added]. Toward end of 1976 ruling Supreme Military Council (SMC) headed by General I. K. Acheampong initiated an historic proposal for a Union Government, a plan designed to provide a real solution to Ghana's quest for a stable and representative government. The idea of a Union Government addresses need for a constitutional third way, for a representative democracy based neither on Westminster-style twoparty system nor on military rule, but on tradition, values, and indigenous political beliefs, ideals and practices of Ghanaians. It is almost a truism that a constitution ought to accord with political culture in which it operates (see WolfPhillips, 1972). This proposal, insofar as it represents a novel constitutional experiment in that direction, demands close scrutiny by students of comparative politics, especially political and legal anthropologists. This paper proceeds along five paths. In first section, some theoretical and substantive implications of current public constitutional debate in Ghana-the debate on Union Government-are reviewed and critically analyzed. Basic to