|
Ghana FUTURE DEMOCRATIC PROSPECTS
At the end of 1994, Ghana's young democracy seemed intact and
on course. Although the electoral processes of the Fourth Republic
were riddled with controversy and even some violence, the prospects
for multiparty democracy appeared bright. This was true despite the
opposition boycott of the parliamentary elections, leading to a
virtual one-party state in practice. The NDC government had so far
demonstrated a willingness to abide by the strictures of the 1992
constitution; the legislature appeared unrestricted in its
deliberations, which were open to public scrutiny and opposition
criticism despite the absence of a formal parliamentary opposition;
and the judiciary had established its independence, unfettered by
executive interference in its decisions, a majority of which had
gone against the government.
Another positive development since the establishment of the
Fourth Republic in January 1993 has been the growing acceptance by
the NDC-dominated government of the crucial distinction between the
interests of a ruling party and those of the state or civil
society. This distinction was virtually nonexistent under military
rule or the one-party state. This development in turn has resulted
in the emergence and growth of independent civic institutions and
organizations.
In celebrating two years of democracy at the end of 1994,
Ghanaians were not forgetful of the painful fact that each of the
last two attempts at constitutional rule had come to an abrupt end
after only two years. Given the record since 1992, however, there
was cause for cautious optimism. It may be that the return of Jerry
Rawlings in 1981 will turn out to be the coup that ended the cycle
of coups and the act that led at last to a new political era in
Ghana.
* * *
A rich body of literature exists on government and politics in
Ghana during the colonial and early postindependence periods.
Individual works range from general historical surveys to important
case studies produced by Ghanaian and foreign specialists. The
politics and government of the PNDC and the Fourth Republic,
however, are less fully documented.
Among classic studies of the early decolonization and
postindependence periods are Dennis Austin's Politics in Ghana,
1946-196, David E. Apter's Ghana in Transitio, and
Maxwell Owusu's Uses and Abuses of Political Power: A Case Study
of Continuity and Change in the Politics of Ghan. The standard
works on foreign policy covering the Nkrumah period (1957-66),
namely Willard S. Thompson's Ghana's Foreign Policy, 1957-1966:
Diplomacy, Ideology, and the New Stat and Michael Dei-Anang's
The Administration of Ghana's Foreign Relations, 1957-1965: A
Personal Memoi, are equally relevant for a complete
understanding of foreign policy under the PNDC and the Fourth
Republic, which remains basically Nkrumahist.
Zaya Yeebo's Ghana, the Struggle for Popular Power
Rawlings, Saviour or Demagogu and Donald I. Ray's Ghana:
Politics, Economics, and Societ are leftist and partisan but
contain useful insights. Ghana under PNDC Rule, 1982-198,
edited by E. Gyimah-Boadi, with contributions by eleven Ghanaian
academics at the University of Ghana, provides a balanced if brief
overview of the years of PNDC rule. Good preliminary studies of
party politics in the Fourth Republic are presented in the volume
entitled Political Parties and Democracy in Ghana's Fourth
Republi, edited by Kwame A. Ninsin and Francis K. Drah.
Jeffrey Herbst's The Politics of Reform in Ghana, 1982-
199, is a good critical examination of the politics of economic
reform under the PNDC. The most systematic and comprehensive study
of the presidential and parliamentary elections of 1992 is by
Richard Jeffries and Clare Thomas, "The Ghanaian Elections of
1992." Maxwell Owusu's "Custom and Coups: A Juridical
Interpretation of Civil Order and Disorder in Ghana," "Rebellion,
Revolution and Tradition: Reinterpreting Coups in Ghana," and
"Democracy and Africa-A View From the Village" provide in-depth
analysis as well as a cultural and historical perspective on the
PNDC period. (For further information and complete citations,
see
Bibliography.)
Data as of November 1994
|
