Thomas Maxwell Aidoo

Political Participation, Governance, Andneopatrimonial Rule in Africa: the Case of Ghana - (1990 - 2000) Thomas Maxwell Aidoo

This tome deals with the democratic transitions inAfrica, drawing on the Ghanaian experience ofre-democratization in 1992. Ghanaian politicsunderwent a most rapid process of transformationbetween 1992 and 2000. Two developments, elites andmass struggles for political and economicincorporation respectively and external pressures,played a dominant in this process. In fine, thenature and extent of political participation in aneopatrimonial, albeit democratizing polity, is thesubject of inquiry. The assumption that is advancedand tested is that political participation in Ghanais low, and that ingrained informal institutions ofneopatrimonial governance bear a heavy, though farfrom exclusive, responsibility. The central positionof the book is that neopatrimonialism delegitimizesthe state and state power, and consequently,engenders an uncongenial environment for cultivatingdemocratic involvement of the citizenry. We find thatpolitical participation beyond elections is low inGhana, that informal institutions of neopatrimonialgovernance are deep-seated and pervasive and a strongcorrelation between neopatrimonialism and politicalinvolvement