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The Successful Ghana Election of 2008 – a Convenient Myth? Ethnicity in Ghana's Elections Revisited

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  • Jockers, Heinz
  • Kohnert, Dirk
  • Nugent, Paul

Abstract

Ghana's 2008 elections have been hailed by national and international observers as a model for Africa. This perception has prevailed despite persistent concerns about 'ethnic block voting' and electoral fraud. Electoral malpractice and vote rigging along ethnic lines in Ghana's virtual two-party system could regain decisive importance as a 'third force' that could tip the balance in future, possibly coming to represent an even more important factor than the smaller opposition parties. Unfortunate diplomatic and technocratic biases in election monitoring, combined with a reluctance on the part of the responsible authorities to investigate irregularities in what appears to be a long history of fraudulent 'ethnic block voting', amounts to a dangerous time bomb of unresolved conflict which could explode in future elections.

Suggested Citation

  • Jockers, Heinz & Kohnert, Dirk & Nugent, Paul, 2009. "The Successful Ghana Election of 2008 – a Convenient Myth? Ethnicity in Ghana's Elections Revisited," GIGA Working Papers 109, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:gigawp:109
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sebastian Elischer, 2008. "Do African parties contribute to democracy? Some findings from Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria," Africa Spectrum, Institute of African Affairs, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 43(2), pages 175-201.
    2. Gordon Crawford, 2008. "Decentralization and the Limits to Poverty Reduction: Findings from Ghana," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(2), pages 235-258.
    3. Kohnert, Dirk, 2008. "Entfremdung und Ausgrenzung: Afrikas neuer Nationalismus in Zeiten der Globalisierung," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 58(2), pages 197-222.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jules Baleyte & Amory Gethin & Yajna Govind & Thomas Piketty, 2020. "Social Inequalities and the Politicization of Ethnic Cleavages in Botswana, Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal, 1999-2019," Working Papers halshs-03022210, HAL.
    2. Franklin Oduro & Mohammed Awal & Maxwell Agyei Ashon, 2014. "A dynamic mapping of the political settlement in Ghana," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-028-14, GDI, The University of Manchester.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    elections; ethnicity; election observation; informal institutions; impunity; Ghana;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • N47 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Africa; Oceania
    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics

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