Conflict,collusion and corruption in small-scale gold mining: Chinese miners and the state in Ghana

As gold prices soared from 2008 onwards, tens of thousands of foreign miners, especially from China, entered the small-scale mining sector in Ghana, despite it being ‘reserved for Ghanaian citizens’ by law. A free-for-all ensued in which Ghanaian and Chinese miners engaged in both contestation and collaboration over access to gold, a situation described as ‘out of control’ and a ‘culture of impunity’. Where was the state? This paper addresses the question of how and why pervasive and illicit foreign involvement occurred without earlier state intervention. Findings indicate that the state was not absent. Foreign miners operated with impunity precisely because they were protected by those in authority, that is, public officials, politicians and chiefs, in return for private payments. Explaining why state institutions failed in their responsibilities leads to reflection about the contemporary state in Ghana. It is concluded that the informality and corruption characteristic of neopatrimonialism remains predominant over legal–rational structures, albeit in a form that has adapted to neoliberal restructuring. Public office remains a means of private enrichment rather than public service. Such findings cast a shadow over the state and government in Ghana, and tarnish its celebration as a model of democratic governance for Africa.     

The judiciary and post-election conflict resolution and democratic consolidation in Ghana’s Fourth Republic

ABSTRACT

In recent times most elections in Africa have been fraught with post-elections conflicts that have had dire consequences on citizens. Kenya, Ivory Coast and Zimbabwe are few of these cases. This makes post-election conflict resolution a very important aspect of the electoral process deserving enormous attention. However, extant literature has not accorded it the needed attention. It is as a result of this, that this study investigates the nature of post-election conflict resolution in Ghana’s Fourth Republic. The study, based on a qualitative case study approach, found among others that, the Courts have been instrumental in consolidating democracy in Ghana, and stakeholders are devotedly operating within the legal framework governing elections, despite logistical, law enforcement and justice delivery challenges. The study being conscious of the progress made over the years concludes that, where democratic institutions are consolidating, the use of unconventional means to resolve conflicts is usually not an option.     

The politics of ethnicity and post-conflict reconstruction: The case of Northern Ghana

Taking into account the complexity of contemporary ethnic conflicts, this article examines the construction and politicisation of ethnicity to understand a recent case of post-conflict reconstruction. More specifically, the article considers theories of post-conflict reconstruction, particularly the conflict transformation school that claims to respond to the hybrid nature of recent ethnic conflicts. By adopting a constructivist perspective, this article argues that post-conflict reconstruction in ethnically-fragmented areas is largely about the problem of de-politicising essentialist discourses of historically constructed ethnic identities. In order to explore this key theoretical issue, the article analyses the 1994-95 case of conflict and reconstruction in the Northern Region of Ghana. This analysis draws on archival research and 21 interviews with individuals representing nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), traditional authorities, religious leaders, opinion leaders, and the state conducted from August to October 2006 in Accra, the capital of Ghana, as well as Tamale, the capital of the Northern Region. Because very little research is available on post-conflict reconstruction in Northern Ghana, this analysis fills a major gap in the contemporary literature on ethnic conflict and post-conflict reconstruction in West Africa. At a broader level, the article suggests that contemporary theories of post-conflict reconstruction would gain from taking a more systematic look at the social and political construction of such identities.     

Pursuing gender equality in the African University

Abstract

Africa urgently needs strong, creative and intellectually productive institutions of higher learning to address continental knowledge needs in a manner that is closely grounded in the political and cultural aspirations of Africa's diverse peoples; women as well as men. This requires academics and academic administrators working in African universities to be deeply sensitive to the challenges of gender equality, social justice and democratisation. It requires that we dedicate ourselves to building knowledge institutions that demonstrate these basic values and work towards producing both the people and the ideas that will see to their propagation in the wider society. Ensuring equity of access at all levels and in all areas of the higher education sector is a minimal condition for the pursuit of gender equality. This requires developing a combination of institutional and intellectual strategies to advance the practice of gender equality in educational institutions, and to equip them for the production of both the people and the ideas that existing political and policy commitments to gender equality demand.     

Diaspora and drug trafficking in West Africa: A case study of Ghana

This article interrogates the emergence of drug traffickingin contemporary Ghana and West Africa within the context ofa global political economy, situated within a deeper historicalperspective. It examines the earlier trafficking of cannabisalong the coast of West Africa in the colonial period, and thelater transnational networks that have emerged to promote internationaldrug trafficking (cocaine and heroin). The article probes howthe African diaspora and international travel service theseemerging drug networks in Ghana, West Africa, Europe and theAmericas. It suggests that the concept of an ‘ideologicaldiaspora’ could shed light on a shared global popularculture, which constitutes a counter culture and rationalizescriminal activities.     

From a ‘success’ story to a highly indebted poor country: Ghana and neoliberal reforms

Drawing on the experience of Ghana, which the World Bank itself proclaimed as an African success story in the early 1990s, this paper sheds important light on why neoliberal policies have had limited success in Africa and what strategies are likely to be necessary to foster growth and industrialisation in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa. In 2001, a few short years after being proclaimed as an economic miracle, Ghana joined the growing ranks of highly indebted poor countries (HIPC) – an especially humbling development for this once proud nation. Why did Ghana's economy collapse after recovering so well? Ghana's experience highlights both the promise and limitation of neoliberal reforms.     

Political parties in Ghana: agents of democracy?

Political parties are generally thought of as agents of democracy that fulfil a range of functions, such as policy formulation, interest aggregation and articulation, social integration, and elite recruitment. However, given the weakness of many African parties, are they able to contribute positively to democracy? This article seeks to answer this question by using Ghana – one of Africa's most successful democracies – as a case study. It is found that parties in Ghana are comparatively strong and do indeed mobilise large numbers of voters. They even expose a degree of ideological competition and have successfully adapted their strategies to the local context. On the other hand, they expose serious weaknesses in the field of social integration and interest representation. Against this background it is argued that even in procedurally well-functioning democracies like Ghana, political parties can be instruments of elite competition that contribute to the exclusion of the poor from decision-making.     

Ghana's foreign policy and transnational security challenges in West Africa

This article focuses on Ghana's security culture as reflected in its foreign policy, and how it has influenced the way the country addresses transnational security challenges in the Economic Community of West African State subregion. In this sense, the article explores some of the linkages between national and subregional security cultures in West Africa and how effectively they have complemented each other in providing a holistic response to the transnational security challenges facing Ghana. The article argues that despite the existence of different subregional conventions and protocols made possible by an emerging subregional security culture, Ghana's strategies for addressing transnational security threats have not gone much beyond the rhetoric of addressing the problems. In reality, transnational criminal activities have not only intensified but have become more challenging. Several factors contribute to this including corrupt leadership and institutional practices, security lapses and lack of interagency coordination, and inadequate resources for addressing the problem. The article calls for adequately equipping the law enforcement agencies and the implementation of relevant laws to facilitate effective responses to transnational security challenges for Ghana and other countries in West Africa.     

Pentecostalism and the spirit of entrepreneurship in Ghana: the case of Maame Sarah prayer camp in Ghana

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the role that Pentecostalism plays in stimulating entrepreneurial spirit and innovation in Ghana. The study adopts an ethnographic approach, and focuses on the Goka Prayer Camp of the Church of Pentecost in the Jaman North District of the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. It is grounded in Weber’s theory of religion as a catalyst for the development of capitalist societies and focuses of religious doctrines, leadership, and institutional networks. Key findings indicate that there is a nexus between Pentecostalism and entrepreneurship development in Ghana. The study showed that Pentecostalism encourages self-determination, self-reliance, and entrepreneurship initiatives among believers due to its prosperity doctrine which states that because believers share in the victory of Jesus Christ over sin, poverty and suffering, they are destined to prosper once they have embraced the faith, maintained strict moral discipline and paid tithe. In addition, Pentecostalism is seen to provide spiritual backing for entrepreneurship by freeing people from ancient superstitious beliefs, and fears that they will be accused of witchcraft, victimised, or die once they become successful. Moreover, the explicit engagement of Pentecostal leaders in the pursuit of material wellbeing sets the pace for members to follow. However, in spite of the role of this strand of Christianity in motivating individuals to engage in entrepreneurial activities, we found that they provide weak networks and institutional support, apart from those in the spiritual domain, to facilitate entrepreneurship development among members. It is rather members of the top hierarchy that appear to benefit from these social networks.     

Assets in the age of tourism: the development of heritage planning in Ghanaian policy

Heritage planning in Ghana is mainly governed by the idea of sustainable pro-poor tourism, but is only marginally integrated with general planning programmes and fragmentally addressed by policy-makers. Motivated by the general lack of research on heritage policy in Ghana, this paper examines the role of heritage planning in national socio-economic, cultural and tourism policy and highlights various ambiguities in terms of concepts, objectives and approaches. The major findings show gaps between rational and communicative planning ideals, between informal management systems and wider democratic concerns, and between delimited and comprehensive planning perspectives. The central argument is that the lack of coherence among different development planning perspectives is an issue that future heritage policy-making needs to consider in order to balance tourism development with concerns such as social stability, community development and local pride of place.     

Issue framing and electoral violence in Ghana: a conceptual analysis

Ghana has conducted several successful elections since 1992, but the country continues to face many threats of widespread violence due to the recurrent nature of micro-level electoral violence and the existence of vulnerabilities such as political patronage, politics of exclusion, winner-takes-all electoral system and ethnic cleavages. While these factors have been used to explain the causes of electoral violence, issue framing by political elites and its connection to electoral violence have not been adequately examined. To better understand this phenomenon, this article draws on the concept of framing to underscore the argument that issue framing and reframing by political elites tend to shape micro-level electoral violence in Ghana.     

The presidency and democratic consolidation in Lithuania

Abstract

Presidents can contribute to democratic consolidation by contributing to the decision-making capacity of the state. Lithuanian presidents have done precisely that by using their powers of veto and legislative initiative to full advantage. Further, they can engage in policy implementation. While Lithuania's split executive gives primary responsibility for this function to the government, the president's role in the selection of the Prime Minister permits him to indirectly influence the effectiveness of the government. Finally, presidents play a major role in system maintenance. The primary means at the president's disposal for doing so is his role as the “guardian” of the Constitution and symbol of the state.     

美国学者研究视角下的中美战略困境

进入21世纪以来,随着中国的和平崛起,美国对中国实力增长不确定性的担忧逐渐加深,美国的中国问题专家在研究中美战略关系时越来越强调对华战略竞争因素,强调美国应扩大和改善同其亚洲盟友和合作伙伴的关系,特别是改善和那些对中国长期抱有忧虑的国家的关系。他们认为,美国在亚洲的安全合作具有多种目的,但目前的重点是建立防止或劝阻中国通过强制外交扩大在该地区影响的机制,同时利用这些合作加强其盟友和合作伙伴抵抗中国影响的能力和信心。文章运用现实主义分析方法,论述当代美国学者研究中美战略困境的不同视角。     

Manifestos and elections in Ghana's Fourth Republic

Debate continues over the factors that influence electoral outcomes or voter behaviour and alignment in elections all over the world. Several factors have been noted, including the manifestos of political parties. In spite of the potential influence of the party manifesto, several comparative and empirical studies on elections in Ghana have paid little or no attention to manifestos in determining the electoral outcomes of political parties in the Fourth Republic.This paper makes a contribution to the debate by examining how manifestos have influenced the electoral chances of the two main political parties which have been in and out of government in Ghana since the inception of the Fourth Republic, namely, the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party. Analysis covers the five elections held in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008. Specifically, it discusses not only the ability of the manifestos to shape policy debate but also to some extent, influence electoral outcomes. The paper concludes with some lessons learned.     

Leadership Traits and Ghana’s Foreign Policy: The Case of Jerry Rawlings’ Foreign Economic Policy of the 1980s

This article examines Ghana’s foreign policy-making with reference to internal and external determinants (structural/systemic). Besides these determinants, political actors (primarily, presidents/heads of state) have shaped the country’s foreign policy outcomes, but this field of enquiry (i.e. the individual-level analysis) has not, received much attention in the literature. To enhance the understanding of leadership and personality traits in foreign policy-making, this study draws on the theory of Leadership Trait Analysis to examine Jerry John Rawlings and Ghana’s foreign economic policy in the early 1980s. It argues that the leadership traits of Rawlings to some extent shaped Ghana’s foreign economic policy decisions in the early 1980s.     

Der Monopolmechanismus in der Wissenschaft. Auf den Schultern von Robert K. Merton

Quality assurance has become the guiding principle of governing research in the wake of the global diffusion of New Public Management. In this respect, the “High Impact Journal” occupies a central place. It is shown that the production of a hierarchy of disciplinary journals furthers the monopoly mechanism in science through processes of the material production of market power and symbolically constructed exclusivity. These processes and the rule of the Shanghai ranking enable an exclusive class of globally dominant universities to ensure the circular accumulation of economic and symbolic capital. The competition among researchers for recognition by the scientific community in terms of their contributions to the advancement of knowledge is being displaced by the competition among entrepreneurial universities for researchers, students and funds as profit generating resources. The resulting tendencies of halting the evolution of knowledge can be counteracted by measures which further the plurality of authorities for quality assurance, the building of opposing power to existing power in a system of checks and balances and by providing space for methodological anarchy.     

Understanding the dynamics of good neighbourliness under Rawlings and Kufuor

It is widely recognised that leadership influences relations between neighbouring states in international affairs. This article seeks to further illuminate the relationship between leadership idiosyncrasies and the nature of Ghana’s neighbour relations under Presidents Rawlings and Kufuor. The argument is that, while political institutionalisation and the international environment may influence neighbour relations to some degree, leader idiosyncrasy is an important intervening variable. Indeed, based on the findings, the international environment may have had less influence on Ghana’s neighbour relations in the period under study (1981–2008) than conventional wisdom suggests.     

Piercing the Incumbency Syndrome: Ghana’s Democratic Transition in 2017

Ghana’s political landscape changed dramatically in 2017, with the election of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo as president. Ghana’s political transition in 2017 raises new insights into presidential recruitment and politics in Ghana. The purpose of this article is to examine the 2016 elections within the spectrum of the politics of Ghana’s presidential recruitment. This article discusses the hurdles that were surmounted by the opposition New Patriotic Party party, in unseating the incumbent National Democratic Congress (NDC) party. The author coins the term ‘the John Syndrome’ to highlight the mythology held by some commentators that Akufo Addo could not be elected president, because his name is not ‘John’. Discussions about intra-party squabbles that resulted in the loss of NDC’s incumbency are provided. The article concludes that Akufo Addo’s presidency symbolises a de-mythologisation of ‘the John Syndrome’. The perception that Akufo Addo saved the nation in 2012 was his major weapon in piercing John Mahama’s incumbency. The demise of the NDC is likely to create an intra-party shift in favour of the party’s founder.     

Alleviating poverty through resource provision: The case of a South African agricultural project

The article documents the findings of a qualitative study that assessed the sustainability of providing resources for poverty alleviation. It argues that access to resources does not assure livelihood security. The study also argues that the ability to sustain resources, rather than merely facilitating access, assures poverty alleviation and livelihood security. Using a qualitative research method and the sustainable livelihoods approach, the article assesses the activities and performance of a small group of women in a government-sponsored agricultural project. The findings reveal that exited projects struggle to sustain themselves and that assetting alone – without skills, capacity, sense of ownership and a clear focus – does not yield the sustainability necessary for poverty alleviation. The conclusion is made that although resources are a necessary first step towards poverty alleviation, sustainable resource management should be highly valued in the process. The article recommends that agriculture-based development projects not be seen as the only option for the rural poor, as knowledge of farming is indeed crucial.     

Ökonomisches Kapital der Eltern und Medizinstudium im Ausland. Wie Europäisierungs- und Globalisierungsprozesse die Reproduktion sozialer Ungleichheiten verändern

The fact that university degrees are accepted throughout Europe has led to the founding of medical faculties, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, that offer medical studies in German or English and thus attracting students from richer Western European countries like Germany. Unlike medical studies in Germany, access to these foreign universities is not dependent on the final school exam grade, but on the ability to pay high tuition fees. The article compares the social class background of medicine students in Germany with German medicine students in Hungary. The analysis shows that the percentage of medicine students who come from higher social classes is even higher in Hungary than it already is in Germany. Studying medicine in Hungary primarily serves as an immediate reproduction of the parents’ profession as many of German medicine students in Hungary have a parent who belongs to the medical profession. The case of German students studying medicine abroad illustrates how Europeanization and Globalization have changed the reproduction of social inequalities; upper classes profit most from the new opportunities.