Congress ndc who are on record to have won all the. The two key political parties in ghana namely, the new patriotic party npp and the national democratic. Aug 23, 2015 the journal of social sciences research, 2015, 14. Pndc, jerry john rawlings was the brain behind both the 1979 and 1981 coups. Pdf this paper is the sixth in a series of publications aimed at. It highlights the dangers of ghana s winner takes all politics such as the marginalization of perceived political opponents and the feeling. The political competition between the two candidates was the keenest during the period between the first round and runoff of the 2008 election. Jun 10, 2019 winner takes all is an electoral system in which, a single political party can elect every office within a given district or jurisdiction. It also promotes the winner takes all politics that everyone seems to be complaining about.
It highlights the dangers of ghana s winner takes all politics such as the marginalization of perceived political opponents and the feeling of exclusion from the governance process by those who do not belong to the. The 1992 constitution of ghana gives the executive president of ghana enormous and extensive powers of appointment. Defining winner takes all politics winner takes all in ghana is not merely an electoral formula for determining winners in elections but also a political mechanism for facilitating the evaluative inclusion and exclusion of individuals, groups and classes of persons. Ghana s return to constitutional rule in 1992 has been beset with the practice of winner takes all politics which has become a worrying phenomenon for the citizens and policy makers. This heightens the feeling of marginalization usually associated with winner takes all politics and undermines inclusivity and policy continuity. The politics of winner takes all in ghana in particular and africa in general, has made. Democratic change and the change to democracy chapter 3.
Mar 04, 2021 and we are not going to get rid of crazy partisanship and winner takes all, unless we do a fundamental restructuring of the structure of our politics and particularly the constitution. Pdf the challenge of third world development semantic scholar. Jun 16, 2020 winner takes all not helping ghanas democracy, development abu sakara june 16, 2020 a former presidential candidate of the convention people party cpp, dr michael abu sakara foster, has observed the winner takes all politics is thwarting the countrys development and democracy. The pdf file you selected should load here if your web browser has a pdf reader plugin installed.
In it the authors argue that contrary to conventional wisdom, the dramatic increase in inequality of income in the united states since 1978the richest 1% gaining 256% after inflation while the income of the lower earning 80% grew only. Winner takes all attitudes and the polarized nature of our society every political party in ghana claims that its ultimate goal for seeking political power is to improve the lives of ghanaians. The paper finally makes recommendations to strengthen the council of state as an effective check on the powers of the executive and. The article is to assess the impact of winner takes all politics in africa using ghana as a case study. In ghana, the two main political parties, the new patriotic party npp and the national democratic congress ndc, are the main culprits of these dastardly acts perpetrated by these political vigilantes or foot soldiers daily graphic, 14 march 2019. Pdf dealing with winner takes all politics in ghana. Many intelligent and concerned ghanaians are against the practice and there are serious calls. Election 00 would be a historic fifth consecutive national poll since the start. There is seeming institutional breakdown at all levels in the country. Sep 18, 2016 the founder and leader of the all peoples congress apc hassan ayariga has given indications that the winner takes all system being practiced in ghana is a breeding ground for corruption adding that that style of governance must change. Bagbins win indicates end of winner takes all spio. This paper is the fifth in a series of publications aimed at contributing to the discourse on the winner takes all politics in ghana. Democratic moderates, and democrats the authors call republicansforaday, aided the republicans in establishing a winner take all system.
The positive side of the recommendation is examined in this paper. Winnertakesall must give way to politics of national agenda. The winner takes all syndrome was identified as a major cause of aggression during elections. Sep 19, 2016 addressing a regional dialogue in koforidua in the eastern region, a senior research fellow with ideg kwasi jonah said the tension in ghana s politics is as a result of the winner takes all political system the nation is practicing. Mr ekow spiogarbrah, a former minister of trade and industry, has intimated that, the election of honorable alban sumana kingsford bagbin as speaker of the eighth parliament of the fourth republic indicates the end of winner takes all in parliament. Dec 18, 2020 the fourth republic has chalked considerable gains and thanks to the dynamism of its democracy, ghana prides herself with political and socioeconomic progressions unprecedented in our history, and. Gyimahboadi calls for restructuring of 1992 constitution. African elections are usually highly contested and competitive because of the winner takes all making of most of the political systems on the continent. Rapid urbanization and the politics of the urban poor chapter 8. The executive director of afrobarometer, professor emmanuel gyimahboadi, has advocated the amendment of ghana s 1992 constitution to reduce the executive powers of the president, as part of effort. The minority republican party could and did use the filibuster to make the reformist majority look ineffectual and fuel popular disdain for politics. Rawlings had resigned in 2000, in the wake of which the ndc, with mills as its presidential candidate, lost the election to the npp.
Winnertakesall not helping ghanas democracy, development. This paper is the first in a series of publications aimed at provoking thought and discourse on issues relating to winner takes all politics in ghana. The case for effective council of state ransford gyampo department of political science, university of ghana, ghana email. This is because democratic political transitions since 1992 have coincided with reduced focus on the socioeconomic development of the country. Amend constitution to abolish winner takes all participants.
The most corrupt coun tries are flawed democracies and authoritarian regimes. In this process, the abudus and andanis had become aligned with the dominant political parties, who in. The current winner takes all political system encourages the. Instead, politicians in ghana have interpreted winner takes all beyond the confines of elections to a more literal meaning that enables state resources to be. Winner takes all system breeds corruption hassan ayariga. It highlights the dangers of ghanas winner takes all politics such as the marginalization of perceived political opponents and the feeling of exclusion from the. Professor kwesi botchwey, a leading member of the ruling national democratic congress ndc, has called for cohesion among the various political parties. It is the practice in ghana to give all public or official posts to members of the party which wins. Pdf managing electoral and political competition in. And we are not going to get rid of crazy partisanship and. Winnertakesall must give way to politics of national. It is instructive that the framers of ghana s 1992 constitution wanted to ensure an effective executive presidency.
The case of national development planning, authorr. How washington made the rich richerand turned its back on the middle class is a book by political scientists jacob s. Agrarian reform and the politics of rural change chapter 7. The term winner take all is sometimes also used to refer to elections for multiple winners in a. Apr 11, 2018 the experienced politician and communication expert says that system is fueling political indiscipline and leading the country into a dangerous path. Ghanaians went to the polls on 7 december 2020, for the 8 th successive time since the return to constitutional rule in 1993, to elect a president. The likelihood of changing the political game from the current winner takes all system to one in which politics is a means of promoting the collective good seems low at this point, as both main parties largely agree on the purpose of the political game. It is instructive that the framers of ghana s 1992 constitution wanted to ensure an.
Phase i reanalyzed findings related to how winner takes all politics, youth unemployment and politicization of secur ity have been used to explain the rise of vigi lante groups in the body. Iea pushes for reforms abolishing winnertakesall politics. Ransford edward gyampo department of political science. Even though political parties are the heart and soul of. And we are not going to get rid of crazy partisanship and winner takes all, unless we do a fundamental restructuring of the structure of our politics and particularly the constitution. Pdf ghanas return to constitutional rule in 1992 has been beset with the practice of winner takes all politics which has become a worrying. It discusses winner takes all as an electoral formula and situates it within the context of. This over the years has led to the manifestations of the winner takes all wta politics. The main aim of this paper was to examine the effects of wta politics on ghana s drive to democratic maturity. Founder and leader of the royalhouse chapel international, apostle sam korankye ankrah has bemoaned the negative effects of the winner takes all. Apr 23, 2019 dealing with winner takes all politics in ghana. It discusses winner takes all as an electoral formula and situates it within the context of winner takes all politics in ghana. There have been different explanations about why political vigilantism has continued to plague ghana s democracy. Ghana guarantees that every person in ghana, irrespective of race, place of origin, political opinions, colour, religion, creed or gender shall be entitled to all the fundamental human rights and freedoms, subject to respect for the rights and freedoms of others and for the public interest.
The president for example wields overarching constitutional powers and can, therefore, favor any group of people through political patronage. Download pdf european research centre for anticorruption and. Plurality voting is an electoral system in which each voter is allowed to vote for only one. Since the third wave of democracy huntington, 1991, due to the competitive nature of these. Largely, respondents identified unemployment, winner takes all, vote buying, lack of. Winnertakesall politics threat to ghanas democracy ideg. Professor emmanuel gyimahboadi, executive director, afrobarometre, has advocated for the amendment of ghana s 1992 constitution to reduce the executive powers of the president, as part of efforts to address the winner takes all syndrome. Mar 31, 2021 as a newspaper we were of the opinion that, the appointment of abeiku santana, was to bring an end to politics of winner takes all, but we were wrong as party supporters are up in arms against the appointing authourity. It is in contrast with proportional representation, in which more than one political party can elect offices in proportion to their voting power.
Theoretically, democratic institutions, politics, and commitments to rule of law and. Minimizing the tendency of the winner takes all in present. This was also the time when the npp and the ndc used young men to snatch ballot. The institute encouraged all political stakeholders to continue in like manner to efface the winner takes all politics in the system and to promote consensus building for a better ghana. Aug 14, 2020 the participants were of the view that the winner takes all system was the major cause of political vigilantism, that was a threat to the countrys democratic gains. It is instructive to note that no single party claims to seek power to improve the living conditions of its members alone. Innovations in electoral politics in ghanas fourth republic. One major headline in the ghanaian media recently is the proposed power sharing type of government by the national chairman of the national democratic congressndc, dr. The reason being that the period between 1981 and 1992 laid the foundation that ushered in. Addressing the problem of political vigilantism in ghana.
Much of the debate is however clustered around its winner takes all elec toral system bobmilliar, 2014. If a party obtains 1% of the national vote, it has 1% representation in parliament. The negative implications of adversarialism and politics of. The people of ghana are gearing themselves up for general elections in december 00. Dispense with the winnertakesall system of governance. Political vigilantism in ghana through the conceptual lens of wicked problems kwame asamoah department of public administration and health services management, university of ghana business school, ghana abstract ghana entered into the fourth republic in 1993 after experiencing political instability over two decades. Winnertakesall politics and democratic consolidation in. Pdf winnertakesall politics and democratic consolidation. The politics of cultural pluralism and ethnic conflict chapter 5. Impact of democratic political transition on the economy.
In political science, the use of plurality voting with multiple, singlewinner constituencies to elect a. He noted the current structure of political power in ghana s democratic politics has changed. Pdf winnertakesall politics and democratic consolidation in. Kwabena adjei on the 21st anniversary celebration of the new patriotic partynpp. It argues that ghana s development planning process lacks broad participation. Coupled with this is the surge and use of political vigilante groups in electoral and political activities, a phenomenon that threatens ghana s democracy, peace and stability. Even though ghana s constitution provided for winner takes all, it was only intended to serve as a formula for selecting leaders.
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