Some Factors in the Establishment of Autocracy in Ghana
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Making Autocracy Work
∗ Making Autocracy Work Timothy Besley Masayuki Kudamatsu LSE and CIFAR LSE The Suntory Centre Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines London School of Economics and Political Science Houghton Street London WC2A 2AE DEDPS 48 May 2007 Tel: (020) 7955 6674 ∗ The first author is grateful for support from CIFAR. The authors received much helpful feedback from members of the Institutions, Organizations and Growth program of CIFAR to which a preliminary version of this paper was presented. Useful comments from Madhav Aney, Fernando Aragon, Peter Evans, Gabriel Leon, Adam Przeworski, Konstantin Sonin, and Guido Tabellini are gratefully acknowledged. Abstract One of the key goals of political economy is to understand how institutional arrangements shape policy outcomes. This paper studies a comparatively neglected aspect of this - the forces that shape heterogeneous performance of autocracies. The paper develops a simple theoretical model of accountability in the absence of regularized elections. Leadership turnover is managed by a selectorate - a group of individuals on whom the leader depends to hold onto power. Good policy is institutionalized when the selectorate removes poorly performing leaders from office. This requires that the selectorate’s hold on power is not too dependent on a specific leader being in office. The paper looks empirically at spells of autocracy to establish cases where it has been successful according to various objective criteria. We use these case studies to identify the selectorate in specific instances of successful autocracy. We also show that, consistent with the theory, leadership turnover in successful autocracies is higher than in unsuccessful autocracies. Finally, we show by exploiting leadership deaths from natural causes that successful autocracies appear to have found ways for selectorates to nominate successors without losing power - a feature which is also consistent with the theoretical approach. -
Home Office, United Kingdom
GHANA COUNTRY ASSESSMENT APRIL 2002 COUNTRY INFORMATION & POLICY UNIT IMMIGRATION & NATIONALITY DIRECTORATE HOME OFFICE, UNITED KINGDOM CONTENTS I. Scope of Document 1.1 - 1.5 II. Geography 2.1 - 2.2 Economy 2.3 III. History 3.1 - 3.2 IV. State Structures The Constitution 4.1 - 4.3 Political System 4.4 - 4.8 Judiciary 4.9 - 4.15 Military 4.16 (i) National Service 4.17 Internal Security 4.18 - 4.22 Legal Rights/Detention 4.23 - 4.24 Prisons and Prison conditions 4.25 - 4.30 Medical Services 4.31 - 4.38 Educational System 4.39 - 4.41 V. Human Rights V.A Human Rights Issues Overview 5.1 - 5.4 Freedom of Speech and the Media 5.5 - 5.11 Freedom of Religion 5.12 - 5.19 Freedom of Assembly & Association 5.20 - 5.25 Employment Rights 5.26 - 5.28 People Trafficking 5.29 - 5.34 Freedom of Movement 5.35 - 5.36 V.B Human Rights - Specific Groups Women 5.37 - 5.43 (i) Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) 5.44 - 5.45 (ii) The Trokosi system 5.46 - 5.48 Children 5.49 - 5.55 Ethnic Groups 5.56 - 5.60 Homosexuals 5.61 V.C Human Rights - Other Issues Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) 5.62 Annexes: Chronology of Events Political Organisations Prominent People References to Source Material I. Scope of Document 1.1. This assessment has been produced by the Country Information & Policy Unit, Immigration & Nationality Directorate, Home Office, from information obtained from a variety of sources. 1.2. The assessment has been prepared for background purposes for those involved in the asylum determination process. -
Citizen Participation in Government
Autocracy, Oligarchy, & Democracy © 2014 Brain Wrinkles In each country, the people have different rights to participate in the government. •In some countries, any citizen can run for office or vote in elections. •In other countries, there are restrictions placed on who can run for office and who can vote. •There are also countries where NO citizen can vote and there are no elections. © 2014 Brain Wrinkles Types of Government are based on two key questions: 1. Who governs the country? 2. What is the citizen participation like? The way a country answers these questions determines its government type: Autocracy Oligarchy Democracy © 2014 Brain Wrinkles • Have a single ruler with unlimited power. • Citizens cannot participate in the selection of the ruler or vote on the country’s laws. • One benefit – decisions for the country can be made quickly. • However…the needs of the citizens may be ignored. • The leader may make poor or selfish decisions that hurt the citizens. © 2014 Brain Wrinkles Generally the power to rule the country is inherited (kings/queens) or is taken by military force. There are two main types of autocracies: Dictatorshi Absolute Monarchy • Thep leader uses force • The monarch has to control the citizens. absolute power (no • Example: Hitler constitution) over the citizens. © 2014 Brain Wrinkles © 2014 Brain Wrinkles • The country is ruled by a small group of people. •The group gets their power from either religion, military force, or wealth & resources. • The citizens do not select the members of this group or vote on the country’s laws. © 2014 Brain Wrinkles The citizens hold the power of the government. -
Hydro-Power and the Promise of Modernity and Development in Ghana: Comparing the Akosombo and Bui Dam Projects
HYDRO-POWER AND THE PROMISE OF MODERNITY AND DEVELOPMENT IN GHANA: COMPARING THE AKOSOMBO AND BUI DAM PROJECTS Stephan F. Miescher, University of California, Santa Barbara & Dzodzi Tsikata, University of Ghana n 2007, as Ghanaians were suffering another electricity crisis with frequent power outages, President J. A. Kufuor celebrated I in a festive mode the sod cutting for the country’s third large hydro-electric dam at Bui across the Black Volta in the Brong Ahafo Region.1 The new 400 megawatt (MW) power project promises to guarantee Ghana’s electricity supply and to develop neglected parts of the north. The Bui Dam had been planned since the 1920s as part of the original Volta River Project: harnessing the river by producing ample electricity for processing the country’s bauxite. In the early 1960s, when President Kwame Nkrumah began to implement the Volta River Project by building the Akosombo Dam, Bui was supposed to follow as part of a grand plan for the industrialization and modernization of Ghana and Africa. Since the 1980s, periodic electricity crises due to irregular rainfall have undermined Ghana’s reliance on Akosombo. By the turn of the century, these crises had created a sense of urgency to realize the Bui project in spite of an increasing international critique of large dams. Although there is more than a forty-year gap between the 1 See press reporting in Daily Mail, 24 August 2007, and the Ghanaian Chroni- cle, 27 August 2007. The sod cutting ceremony, analogous to a grass-cutting or ribbon-cutting event, symbolically marks the beginning of construction for a major infrastructure project. -
An Epidemiological Profile of Malaria and Its Control in Ghana
An Epidemiological Profile of Malaria and its Control in Ghana Report prepared by National Malaria Control Programme, Accra, Ghana & University of Health & Allied Sciences, Ho, Ghana & AngloGold Ashanti Malaria Control Program, Obuasi, Ghana & World Health Organization, Country Programme, Accra, Ghana & The INFORM Project Department of Public Health Research Kenya Medical Research Institute - Wellcome Trust Progamme Nairobi, Kenya Version 1.0 November 2013 Acknowledgments The authors are indebted to the following individuals from the MPHD, KEMRI-Oxford programme: Ngiang-Bakwin Kandala, Caroline Kabaria, Viola Otieno, Damaris Kinyoki, Jonesmus Mutua and Stella Kasura; we are also grateful to the help provided by Philomena Efua Nyarko, Abena Asamoabea, Osei-Akoto and Anthony Amuzu of the Ghana Statistical Service for help providing parasitological data on the MICS4 survey; Catherine Linard for assistance on modelling human population settlement; and Muriel Bastien, Marie Sarah Villemin Partow, Reynald Erard and Christian Pethas-Magilad of the WHO archives in Geneva. We acknowledge in particular all those who have generously provided unpublished data, helped locate information or the geo-coordinates of data necessary to complete the analysis of malaria risk across Ghana: Collins Ahorlu, Benjamin Abuaku, Felicia Amo-Sakyi, Frank Amoyaw, Irene Ayi, Fred Binka, David van Bodegom, Michael Cappello, Daniel Chandramohan, Amanua Chinbua, Benjamin Crookston, Ina Danquah, Stephan Ehrhardt, Johnny Gyapong, Maragret Gyapong, Franca Hartgers, Debbie Humphries, Juergen May, Seth Owusu-Agyei, Kwadwo Koram, Margaret Kweku, Frank Mockenhaupt, Philip Ricks, Sylvester Segbaya, Harry Tagbor and Mitchell Weiss. The authors also acknowledge the support and encouragement provided by the RBM Partnership, Shamwill Issah and Alistair Robb of the UK government's Department for International Development (DFID), Claude Emile Rwagacondo of the West African RBM sub- regional network and Thomas Teuscher of RBM, Geneva. -
Sorcerer's Apprentices
Faculty & Research The Spirit of Despotism: Understanding the Tyrant Within by M. Kets de Vries 2004/17/ENT Working Paper Series The Spirit of Despotism: Understanding the Tyrant Within Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries* * Raoul de Vitry d’Avaucourt Clinical Professor of Leadership Development, INSEAD, France & Singapore. Director, INSEAD’s Global Leadership Centre. 1 Abstract The objective of this article is to better understand the developmental history of despotic regimes and the existence of leadership by terror. To gain greater insight into this phenomenon, the unusual relationship between leaders and followers in despotic regimes is explored, and the self-destructive cycle that characterizes such regimes is examined. The price paid in the form of human suffering and the breakdown of the moral fabric of a society is highlighted. In this article, particular attention is paid to highly intrusive totalitarian regimes. The levers used by such regimes to consolidate their power base are discussed in detail. The role of ideology, the enforcement of mind-control, the impact of the media, the inception of the illusion of solidarity, and the search for scapegoats are part of the review. Finally, suggestions are made on how to prevent despotic leaders from gaining a hold on power. Observations are made about the newly founded International Criminal Court, a permanent international judicial body that has been specially set up to try despotic rulers for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. KEY WORDS: Despotism; tyrant; leadership; totalitarianism; autocracy; tyranny; dictatorship; societal regression; democracy; paranoia; narcissism; scapegoat; ideology; mind-control; aggression; violence; sadism; terror; genocide; war; crimes against humanity; war criminal; International Criminal Court. -
A Case Comparison of Ghana, Kenya, and Senegal
1 Democratization and Universal Health Coverage: A Case Comparison of Ghana, Kenya, and Senegal Karen A. Grépin and Kim Yi Dionne This article identifies conditions under which newly established democracies adopt Universal Health Coverage. Drawing on the literature examining democracy and health, we argue that more democratic regimes – where citizens have positive opinions on democracy and where competitive, free and fair elections put pressure on incumbents – will choose health policies targeting a broader proportion of the population. We compare Ghana to Kenya and Senegal, two other countries which have also undergone democratization, but where there have been important differences in the extent to which these democratic changes have been perceived by regular citizens and have translated into electoral competition. We find that Ghana has adopted the most ambitious health reform strategy by designing and implementing the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). We also find that Ghana experienced greater improvements in skilled attendance at birth, childhood immunizations, and improvements in the proportion of children with diarrhea treated by oral rehydration therapy than the other countries since this policy was adopted. These changes also appear to be associated with important changes in health outcomes: both infant and under-five mortality rates declined rapidly since the introduction of the NHIS in Ghana. These improvements in health and health service delivery have also been observed by citizens with a greater proportion of Ghanaians reporting satisfaction with government handling of health service delivery relative to either Kenya or Senegal. We argue that the democratization process can promote the adoption of particular health policies and that this is an important mechanism through which democracy can improve health. -
The Crown Prince and the Frog-Prince: Characterisations in the Identity Construction of Firstborn Males
© Psychological Society of South Africa. All rights reserved. South African Journal of Psychology, 40(3), 2010, pp. 282-291 ISSN 0081-2463 The crown prince and the frog-prince: characterisations in the identity construction of firstborn males Gertina J. van Schalkwyk University of Macau, Macau I explore the identity construction and narrative self of firstborn males at the hand of metaphors contained in the well-known fairytale of the “Frog King”. In many societies around the world, the oldest male offspring — the firstborn, lastborn, or single child — confronts a host of legacies, privileges and social structures that lead him to adopt a particular characterisation of self. Using a non-empirical philosophical design, narrative analysis, and a fairytale as metaphoric framework, I analysed the narratives of two firstborn males explicating images of the crown prince and the frog- prince as metaphors for socially organised frameworks of meaning that define categories and specify what constitutes being a firstborn male. I searched for conceptual linkages between the crown prince, the frog-prince and the dominant discourse of patriarchy in identity construction, proposing that his enmeshment in social stereotypes precludes explorations of a multi-faceted, differentiated self and an integrated adaptation to life’s challenges. Keywords: crown prince; fairytale metaphor; firstborn male; frog-prince; male identity; patriarchy; pseudo-identity In ancient times people esteemed able-bodied men who could protect their families and livelihoods against nature and beasts. Notwithstanding economical and political progress — from monarchy to democracy, agrarian to technocratic, battlefield to so-called peaceful negotiations or from emphasis on physical and manual labour to mental enterprise — male privileging has prevailed. -
British Domestic Security Policy and Communist Subversion: 1945-1964
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Apollo British Domestic Security Policy and Communist Subversion: 1945-1964 William Styles Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge September 2016 This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy William Styles British Domestic Security Policy and Communist Subversion: 1945-1964 This thesis is concerned with an analysis of British governmental attitudes and responses to communism in the United Kingdom during the early years of the Cold War, from the election of the Attlee government in July 1945 up until the election of the Wilson government in October 1964. Until recently the topic has been difficult to assess accurately, due to the scarcity of available original source material. However, as a result of multiple declassifications of both Cabinet Office and Security Service files over the past five years it is now possible to analyse the subject in greater depth and detail than had been previously feasible. The work is predominantly concerned with four key areas: firstly, why domestic communism continued to be viewed as a significant threat by successive governments – even despite both the ideology’s relatively limited popular support amongst the general public and Whitehall’s realisation that the Communist Party of Great Britain presented little by way of a direct challenge to British political stability. Secondly, how Whitehall’s understanding of the nature and severity of the threat posed by British communism developed between the late 1940s and early ‘60s, from a problem considered mainly of importance only to civil service security practices to one which directly impacted upon the conduct of educational policy and labour relations. -
Corruption in Autocracies∗
Corruption in Autocracies∗ James R. Hollyery Yale University Leonard Wantchekon Princeton University September 2011 Abstract Corruption is typically depicted as a result of one of two factors: a lack of polit- ical accountability or insufficient state capacity. Nonetheless, substantial variation in corruption levels exists even within the set of politically unaccountable high-capacity regimes. In this paper, we examine a third determinant of corruption – the ideological appeal of the government – and demonstrate that this variable can explain variation in the types and levels of corruption experienced in politically unaccountable regimes. Using a model of both moral hazard and adverse selection, we predict that (1) regimes that inspire the intense ideological loyalty of the populace are likely to enjoy low lev- els of petty corruption and that (2) autocratic regimes that enjoy such intense support from only a narrow segment of the populace will erect credible anti-corruption insti- tutions. Political corruption, by contrast, need not covary with levels of ideological support. We illustrate the mechanisms of our model through a series of case studies that demonstrate the importance of ideology in driving levels of corruption – with a particular focus on low levels of corruption in ‘developmentalist’ regimes. Finally, we discuss the relevance of our findings to other – democratic – political settings. ∗We would like to thank José Antonio Cheibub, Sunkyoung Park, Peter Rosendorff, Kongjoo Shin, Alberto Simpser and participants in the 2011 APSA Panel on Audits and Government Accountability in the Devel- oping World and participants in the 2011 EPSA Conference Panel on the Political Economy of Authoritarian Regimes for comments and suggestions. -
LETTER to G20, IMF, WORLD BANK, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS and NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS
LETTER TO G20, IMF, WORLD BANK, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS and NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS We write to call for urgent action to address the global education emergency triggered by Covid-19. With over 1 billion children still out of school because of the lockdown, there is now a real and present danger that the public health crisis will create a COVID generation who lose out on schooling and whose opportunities are permanently damaged. While the more fortunate have had access to alternatives, the world’s poorest children have been locked out of learning, denied internet access, and with the loss of free school meals - once a lifeline for 300 million boys and girls – hunger has grown. An immediate concern, as we bring the lockdown to an end, is the fate of an estimated 30 million children who according to UNESCO may never return to school. For these, the world’s least advantaged children, education is often the only escape from poverty - a route that is in danger of closing. Many of these children are adolescent girls for whom being in school is the best defence against forced marriage and the best hope for a life of expanded opportunity. Many more are young children who risk being forced into exploitative and dangerous labour. And because education is linked to progress in virtually every area of human development – from child survival to maternal health, gender equality, job creation and inclusive economic growth – the education emergency will undermine the prospects for achieving all our 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and potentially set back progress on gender equity by years. -
Rawlings, Sankara, Ghaddafi, and Nasser: Soldiers As Intellectuals, Nationalists, Pan-Africanists, and Statesmen
H-Announce Rawlings, Sankara, Ghaddafi, and Nasser: Soldiers as Intellectuals, Nationalists, Pan-Africanists, and Statesmen Announcement published by Sabella Abidde on Monday, March 29, 2021 Type: Call for Papers Date: May 30, 2021 Location: Alabama, United States Subject Fields: African History / Studies, Area Studies, Black History / Studies, Middle East History / Studies, Political Science Rawlings, Sankara, Ghaddafi, and Nasser Soldiers as Intellectuals, Nationalists, Pan-Africanists, and Statesmen Editors: Sabella Abidde, Ph.D. and Felix Kumah-Abiwu, Ph.D. In the annals of modern African political history, four soldiers and coup plotters -- Jerry Rawlings (Ghana), Moammar Gaddafi (Libya), Thomas Sankara (Burkina Faso), and Gamal Abdel Nasser (Egypt) -- were rarities. They were at once intellectuals, nationalists, pan-Africanists, and statesmen. Their exceptionality is the reason for this edited volume. For more than four decades, beginning in the early 1950s through the tail-end of the twentieth century, Africa was the bastion of military coups bested perhaps only by Latin America. These sudden and extralegal overthrows of governments were so routine that many came to view coupists as unprofessional and unpatriotic members of the military that were ill-equipped to govern modern states and their various institutions. Nonetheless, there were exceptions to the typical: soldiers who transformed their immediate communities and, by extension, the continent. While the military’s role in politics is still a subject of intense debate in the scholarly/public domain, it is indisputable that some of Africa’s former military leaders went on to become icons and respected leaders of their time. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to examine why and how Rawlings, Gaddafi, Sankara, and Nasser became rarities in African and world politics.