Ghana Political History and Practice of Democracy

Ghana Political History and Practice of Democracy. Ghana rates highly on most of the basic measures of democracy, including protection of fundamental civil liberties and human rights. Over the past two decades, the country has been successful in holding free and fair elections, decreasing poverty, and moving toward the achievement of many of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These are significant accomplishments. Where Ghanaian democracy has been less successful is in the nature and scope of the participation of most political actors in the country’s governance processes and institutions beyond elections. Effective participation in the making and implementation of public policy has been limited to a small political elite which has succeeded in capturing the presidency, albeit through fairly competitive elections, and with it control of the public resources that the constitution places under control of the executive branch.