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Fridy submitted to the Faculty of the School of International Service of The American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in International Relations Committee Chair O' Deborah Bfautigam, PhD Committee Member Mark Walker, PhD Dean of SIS U j CXj6~d Louis Goodman, PhD Date q L Q Q \________ 2001 The American University MSI Washington, DC AMERICAN W nVtRSftt IB W ® Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number 1405021 UMI* UMI Microform 1405021 Copyright 2001 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Copyright © 2001 by Kevin S. Fridy All rights reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. to sarah and my parents Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. STRONGMEN AND DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION: THE GHANAIAN EXPERIENCE by Kevin S. Fridy ABSTRACT On 7 January 2001, Ghanaians witnessed their first turnover of power within democracy. Noting this landmark, this thesis offers a comprehensive analysis of democratic consolidation in Ghana. Is it fair to discuss consolidation in a country whose republic is so young? Settling on an open-ended process-oriented definition of democratic consolidation, this thesis concludes that the Ghanaian democracy is indeed strengthening its defenses against undemocratic forces. What are the factors that have contributed to Ghana’s democratic consolidation and what are the potential threats? Juan Linz and Alfred Stepan’s model of consolidation is used to examine the Ghanaian state and polity for signs of democratic acceptance. This thesis concludes that pro-democratic forces within Ghanaian society have taken advantage of the stability provided by the republic’s decidedly undemocratic first president to strengthen their country’s democracy. They have made significant democratic improvements in civil and political society but continue to struggle with grinding poverty and an ineffectual civil service. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .................................................................................. ii List of Tables and Illustrations............................................... iv Chapters One: Introduction............................................................1 Two: Definitions and Concepts.................................... 13 Three: Democratic Transition In Ghana.......................49 Four. Democratic Consolidation In Ghana...................76 Five: Tentative Conclusions.......................................126 Bibliography....................................................................... 136 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF TABLES & ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 2.1: Definitions o fDemocratic Consolidation............................. 26 Figure 3.1: Rawlings Great Transformation.......................................... 56 Table 3.1: The State o fDemocracy in Ghana (1972 - 2001)................. 72 Table 4.1: The Ethnic Balancing Act (Percentage o f Seats Won by the Major Parties in Ghana's 2?* and 3rd Parliaments o f the 4* Republic)........................................... 94 Table 4.2: The Economic Indicators o f Ghana's Economic Recovery Program (ERP).................................................. 122 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION On 7 January 2001, Ghanaians from all walks of life poured onto the streets of Accra to make their way towards Independence Square. There, they were joined by Members of Parliament, Supreme Court Justices, notable chiefs, business leaders, President Eyadema of Togo, President Wade of Slndgal, President Corapaord of Burkina Faso, President Obasanjo of Nigeria, and Deputy President Zuma of South Africa. While some in attendance were undoubtedly there to celebrate the electoral victory of their candidate or the defeat of another, President John Agyekum Kufuor paid homage to the overwhelming emotion sweeping through the crowd. “We demonstrate today our maturity and our cohesion as a nation,” Kufuor stated in his inaugural address, “by the smooth transfer of power from one democratically elected government to another.”1 Such a transfer is unprecedented in Ghanaian history. Ghana’s post independence period has included four republics separated by long periods of military rule. Democracy in the First Republic met its end at the hand of its creator. Shortly after gaining independence from the United Kingdom in 1957, Kwame Nkrumah and his cohorts in the Convention People’s Party (CPP) took a series of steps to entrench themselves in power. 1 John Agyekum Kufuor, ‘Inaugural Speech” (speech delivered at Independence Square in Accra, Ghana on 7 January 2001). 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 Before their first term had expired, the CPP government had enacted legislation to emasculate the judiciary, harass political opponents, and suppress dissent. By the time the military junta calling itself the National Liberation Council overthrew Nkrumah and the CPP in 1966, even the facade of democratic participation and competition had long gone by the wayside.2 Ghana’s Second and Third Republics bear little mention as they lasted a mere 28 months a piece. Both of the short-lived republics had their origins in a military handover to a civilian government and both were removed from power by coup d’etat.3 Only the Fourth Republic of Ghana can claim the successful completion of one democratic term of office and, as of 7 January 2001, a peaceful turnover of power within democracy. The rarity of power transfers from one democratically elected government to another is not unique to Ghana. Africa as a whole has been anything but fertile ground for democratic turnovers.4 With the exception of the regular parliamentary coalition shifts in the precocious island nation of Mauritius, there have been only five turnovers of power within democracy on the continent: Bdnin and Madagascar had turnovers in 1996, 2 Kumi Ansah-Koi, “Safeguarding Human Rights In Ghana’s Fourth Republic,” in Ghana’s Transition to Constitutional Rule: Proceedings o f a Seminar Organised by the Department o f Political Science, University o f Ghana, Legon (Accra, Ghana: Ghana Universities Press, 1991), 119-120. 3 For more on this period of Ghanaian political history, see A. Adu Boahen,The Ghanaian Sphinx: Reflections on the Contemporary History o f Ghana, 1972-1987 (Accra, Ghana: Sankofa Educational Publishers, 1992). 4 Unless otherwise noted, for the purposes of this thesis, Africa refers to the amalgamation of states commonly referred to as Sub-Saharan Africa, blade Africa, or tropical Africa. These states include Angola, Bdnm, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Cfite d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, S3o Tomd, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania,