Democracy In Ghana Research Articles

The effect of the Public Order Act of 1994, (Act 491) on Democracy in Ghana

Background: The thirty-year-old Public Order Act of Ghana of 1994 (Act 491), is seen as archaic legislation over the people’s civil libertarian rights to assemble in protest against inimical and corrupt government actions. It has become the bane of democratic development in Ghana, preventing the citizens right to conduct non-violent civil disobedience acts, and seen as anti-establishment act. Methods: This is an exploratory as well as retrospective review of government security apparatchik’s interpersonal relationship with the Ghanaian public who engage(d) in non-violent demonstrations and protests since the promulgation of the act. Results: The assessment revealed that, for the average Ghanaian citizen, his or her only means of getting the attention of government is through public demonstration or protest. The Parliamentarians for their constituencies are disconnected from them giving them no avenue for the redress of grievances. It also found that, the international development partners operating in Ghana are perceived to be siphoning the life-blood out of the people of Ghana, sort of domestic economic hit men, who promote Ghana as a democracy despite the realities on the ground, due to the effect of their role on increasing income inequalities among the populations. Conclusion: Despite the persistent denial of the public’s right to assemble and protest against government conduct: corruption, stealing, extravagant living and spending, denial of meritocratic job placement, and the harm caused to their freedoms, the international development partners and nations continue to issue endorsements to the government as running a democratic system, despite evidence-based corruption, indebtedness to both international and domestic creditors and poor socio-economic outcomes for the people of Ghana due poor leadership and management of the economy.

Religion, Morality, and Democracy in Ghana

Abstract Many Ghanaians express concern about what they regard as a serious decline in morality and integrity, at both elite and popular levels. The decline is believed to fuel corruption, undermine national development, and diminish faith in democracy as the best available system of government. The paper argues that a close relationship between Ghana’s largest church, the Church of Pentecost (CoP), and the country’s two main political parties, the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress, threatens Ghana’s secular constitution and the country’s three decades of democracy in two ways. First, the CoP wants undemocratically to impose a framework to control Ghanaians’ moral behaviour according to the church’s values and beliefs. Second, the CoP’s influence on Ghana’s two main political parties seeks to prioritise power and control over all Ghanaians regardless of their religious affiliation and of the country’s commitment to democratic norms and institutions.

Ethnic plurality, political mobilisation, social divisions and the formation of conflict structures in North-Eastern Ghana

Political mobilisation is a necessary aspect of any democracy in the world. Since the introduction of democracy in Ghana, political mobilisation has become part of the political process that characterises the selection and choice of leaders. This phenomenon manifests itself differently in different geographical areas of the country. While processes of political mobilisation have received adequate academic attention, the extent to which they are immersed in coincidental ethnic cleavages to engender the formation of conflict structures in the specific region of the Bawku/Kusaug Traditional Area is less studied. This study contributes to the critical literature on political mobilisation by nuancing the debate on political mobilisation to include how political mobilisation reinforces ethnic division and creates contours and pathways through which ethnic conflicts inchoate and sophisticate. The study used a case study design of the qualitative approach to investigate the phenomenon. Twenty-seven participants were selected through an expert purposive sampling technique to partake in focus group discussions and personal interviews. The data collected through these methods were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. The analysis revealed that political mobilisation in Bawku is often anchored through the ethnic elite who mobilise their people along ethnic lines for or against specified political parties. This often creates different political rewards for each ethnic group depending on the political party that emerge victorious in elections. These differential rewards lead to violent confrontations with several economic, social and security consequences. The study therefore suggested strategies to better anchor political mobilisation and ensure peaceful co-existence among ethnic groups in the Bawku/Kusaug Traditional Area, the Upper East, Northern Ghana and Ghana as a whole

Revolutionary populism and democracy in Ghana

ABSTRACTThe article examines two decades of Jerry Rawlings’ rule in Ghana. It seeks to explain why Rawlings’ revolutionary populism did not develop in the direction that he envisaged: a new kind of popular democracy. Instead, Rawlings oversaw the reintroduction of Ghana's popularly preferred political system: ‘Western-style’ multi-party democracy, despite his avowed intention of not doing so. To what extent was this outcome surprising or puzzling? The article explains that it was neither surprising nor puzzling as Rawlings’ regime, the PNDC, lacked the capacity to introduce a radical new political system, despite his desire to do so. His aim – to craft a new kind of popular democracy – was not achievable as both internal and external opposition forces were stronger in their desire for multi-party democracy and a neo-liberal economic system.

Determinants of citizens’ support for democracy in Ghana

AbstractObjectiveThis article addresses the following questions: (1) What is the extent of Ghanaians' support for democracy? (2) What are the influences of education, the pursuit of political news, and the discussion of politics on citizens' support of democracy?MethodsThis study combines the sixth and seventh rounds the Afrobarometer surveys on Ghana. The total sample for this study is 4,800 adult Ghanaians. Binary logistic regression analysis was employed for the multivariate analysis.ResultsAbout 81 percent of the respondents prefer democracy to any other form of government, including a military rule. Also, the study also found that education attainment, the pursuit of political news information, and the discussion of politics is significantly linked to citizens' support of democracy.ConclusionThe study shows that increasing access to education and political information are vital mechanisms for strengthening democratic consolidation.

Plutocratic state. Elite privilege and bungled identity management at the jugular of democracy in Ghana

Plutocratic state. Elite privilege and bungled identity management at the jugular of democracy in Ghana

Party’s presidential primaries and the consolidation of democracy in Ghana’s 4th Republic

Democracy under any system of rule is associated with vibrant political parties and credible elections. Both are indispensable in a representative democracy. The good conduct of elections within a ...

Democracy in Ghana: Everyday Politics in Urban Africa

Democracy in Ghana: Everyday Politics in Urban Africa

The judiciary and post-election conflict resolution and democratic consolidation in Ghana’s Fourth Republic

ABSTRACT In recent times most elections in Africa have been fraught with post-elections conflicts that have had dire consequences on citizens. Kenya, Ivory Coast and Zimbabwe are few of these cases. This makes post-election conflict resolution a very important aspect of the electoral process deserving enormous attention. However, extant literature has not accorded it the needed attention. It is as a result of this, that this study investigates the nature of post-election conflict resolution in Ghana’s Fourth Republic. The study, based on a qualitative case study approach, found among others that, the Courts have been instrumental in consolidating democracy in Ghana, and stakeholders are devotedly operating within the legal framework governing elections, despite logistical, law enforcement and justice delivery challenges. The study being conscious of the progress made over the years concludes that, where democratic institutions are consolidating, the use of unconventional means to resolve conflicts is usually not an option.

Democracy in Ghana: Everyday Politics in Urban Africa

J. W. Paller, Democracy in Ghana: Everyday Politics in Urban Africa. Cambridge University Press, 2019. 328 pages. Since 1992, the political system of Ghana has received ample academic attention. The reason for this, many times, is that it represents a stable democracy with peaceful transitions,

Democracy in Ghana: Everyday Politics in Urban Africa by J. W. Paller

Democracy in Ghana: Everyday Politics in Urban Africa by J. W. Paller

Pentecostalism, Media, Lived Religion and Participatory Democracy in Ghana

This article discusses the public manifestation of religion in contemporary Ghana. It reflects on how the synergy of the mass media, and democracy precipitates new forms of religious expression. The article argues that the dominance of the Pentecostal movement in the media, fuels democratic participation that results in the amalgamation of religious ideas, beliefs and practices in the discussion of national issues that affects the everyday – politics, economics, legal and educational matters. The article argues that these forms of religious expression in the media by Pentecostal/ Charismatic churches on national issues engenders inclusiveness and generate belongingness in both the political, economic, and socialcommunal decision making process that has implications for effective democratic participation, good governance and development.

The judiciary and democracy in Ghana’s Fourth Republic

The judiciary and democracy in Ghana’s Fourth Republic

Africa on the Maps of Global Values: Comparative Analyses, Based on Recent World Values Survey Data

This paper attempts to close a gap in the recent literature on African economic development: the place of Africa on the maps of global economic, political and social values. We develop new comparable indices of global value development from the latest set of World Values Survey data and determine Africa’s place on a new factor analytical index of Global Civil Society. Our statistical calculations were performed by the routine and standard SPSS statistical program (SPSS XXIV), available at many academic research centers around the world and relied on the so-called oblique rotation of the factors, underlying the correlation matrix. The SPSS routine chosen in this context was the so-called promax rotation of factors, which in many ways must be considered to be the best suited rotation of factors in the context of our research. Our analysis of the World Values Survey data derived the following factor analytical scales, well compatible with a large social scientific literature: 1. The non-violent and law-abiding society 2. Democracy movement 3. Climate of personal non-violence 4. Trust in institutions 5. Happiness, good health 6. No redistributive religious fundamentalism 7. Accepting the market 8. Feminism 9. Involvement in politics 10. Optimism and engagement 11. No welfare mentality, acceptancy of the Calvinist work ethics The spread in the performance of African countries with complete data is really amazing. While we are especially hopeful about the development of future democracy in Ghana, our article suggests pessimistic tendencies for Egypt and Algeria, and especially for Africa’s leading economy, South Africa. High Human Inequality, as measured by the UNDP’s Human Development Report’s Index of Human Inequality, further impairs the development of Human Security. One can maintain that the certain recent optimism, corresponding to economic and human rights data, emerging from Africa, is reflected also in our Index of the Development of Civil Society. There is at least some hope for Africa, on this front, too.

The rule of law and democracy in Ghana since independence: Uneasy bedfellows?

The rule of law and democracy in Ghana since independence: Uneasy bedfellows?

Civil society and the consolidation of democracy in Ghana’s fourth republic

This study set out to investigate activities of civil society organisations (CSOs) and how they have promoted democratic consolidation in Ghana. Specifically, it assessed the contributions of three...

Mobile telephony and democracy in Ghana: Interrogating the changing ecology of citizen engagement and political communication

This paper explores how far mobile telephony, in concert with other media platforms, has borne out the optimism of the mobile phonedemocracy nexus in the context of Ghana's politics and democratic practice. It examines the relationship between mobile phone access, citizen engagement, and appropriation of the technology by the governing elite for political communication and electoral campaigns. It concludes that Ghana has witnessed a rich convergence of mobile telephony and broadcast media which, in tandem with an open political environment, has significantly transformed the ecology of political communication. This development has helped to deepen democratic engagement among citizens, and between citizens and the political class, by fostering civic vigilance and accountability and facilitating multivocal expression of views from a more diverse constituency of political participants. However, while mobile phones and related platforms have allowed contra- and counter-hegemonic voices in Ghanaian politics to find expression across the electromagnetic spectrum, this access should not be construed to necessarily mean that political discourse has shifted in significant ways as to alter the fundamental structures of political power. Overall, the fundamental structures of political power and the levers of control remain unassailed by ordinary citizens, despite some of the progress made possible by mobile telephony.

English

Truth and reconciliation commissions (TRCs) as transitional justice and conflict resolution mechanisms, have gained international prominence, especially following South Africa’s much publicised TRC experience. Among other things, TRCs are expected to contribute to democratic consolidation by correcting the historical narrative, acknowledging past human rights violations and fostering a human rights culture in nascent democracies. This was the spirit in which Ghana’s National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) executed its mandate from 2002 to 2004.  However, a decade after the commission issued its final report, this article reflects on the failure of the Ghanaian state to disseminate the report. It is argued that the failure to disseminate the NRC Report could jeopardise the commission’s potential contributions to sustainable reconciliation, human rights and democracy in Ghana. This article accounts for the failure to disseminate the report, and makes corrective recommendations as well as suggestions for future research.   Key words: Transitional justice, human rights, Ghana, national reconciliation commission, truth and reconciliation commissions, authoritarian enclaves.

Elites and democracy in Ghana: A social network approach

Elites and democracy in Ghana: A social network approach

The Church and Ghana's Drive Towards Democratic Consolidation and Maturity

Generally, the Church has played a critical role in Ghana’s drive towards democratic maturity. The Christian Council of Ghana, one of the foremost and well respected umbrella Christian Church Organizations makes a positive contribution to Ghana’s democratic consolidation process. As part of a broader civil society, the Christian Council, in spite of its financial challenges, has played a democracy-supporting role of fighting authoritarianism and contributing to the nurturing of democracy in Ghana when it was attained. So, what is the Christian Council of Ghana’s mission? What specific role has the Council played in fighting authoritarian regimes since independence? How has the Council contributed to democratic nurturing, maturity and consolidation in Ghana? These are the critical issues that the paper seeks to address using a qualitative research approach that largely thrives on secondary sources of information and views gleaned from interviews with persons associated with the Christian Council