Ethnicity in Electoral Politics in Ghana: Colonial Legacies and the Constitution as Determinants

TY - JOUR

T1 - Ethnicity in Electoral Politics in Ghana

T2 - Colonial Legacies and the Constitution as Determinants

AU - Sefa-Nyarko, Clement

PY - 2021/3

Y1 - 2021/3

N2 - This paper assesses political allegiances in Ghana, positioning its ethno-political divide into the historical contexts of institutional design and colonialism in Africa. It argues that whilst the colonial policy of Indirect Rule solidified ethnicity in Africa, post-colonial governments used it differently, with varying effects on institutional design and state-building. In concert with other constitutional provisions, Ghana’s Article 55 of 1992 Constitution has curtailed extreme ethnic politics through the limit it places on ethnicity in party politics. Whilst outlawing ethnicity in politics, the constitution provides other depoliticised outlets for expressing diversity, especially through decentralisation and legitimisation of chieftaincy institutions. Despite these safeguarding provisions, the Asantes and Ewes have consistently taken entrenched political positions since 1992, and this article explicates some of the drivers using longitudinal election results. It draws on institutional design complexities in multi-ethnic societies in Africa to propose lessons and convey implications for Ghana’s Fourth Republic Constitution.

AB - This paper assesses political allegiances in Ghana, positioning its ethno-political divide into the historical contexts of institutional design and colonialism in Africa. It argues that whilst the colonial policy of Indirect Rule solidified ethnicity in Africa, post-colonial governments used it differently, with varying effects on institutional design and state-building. In concert with other constitutional provisions, Ghana’s Article 55 of 1992 Constitution has curtailed extreme ethnic politics through the limit it places on ethnicity in party politics. Whilst outlawing ethnicity in politics, the constitution provides other depoliticised outlets for expressing diversity, especially through decentralisation and legitimisation of chieftaincy institutions. Despite these safeguarding provisions, the Asantes and Ewes have consistently taken entrenched political positions since 1992, and this article explicates some of the drivers using longitudinal election results. It draws on institutional design complexities in multi-ethnic societies in Africa to propose lessons and convey implications for Ghana’s Fourth Republic Constitution.

KW - institutional design

KW - Ethnicity

KW - Ghana

KW - Asante and Ewe

KW - Fourth Republic of Ghana

KW - Constitution

KW - Colonial Legacy

U2 - 10.1177/0896920520943263

DO - 10.1177/0896920520943263

M3 - Article

SN - 0896-9205

VL - 47

SP - 299

EP - 315

JO - Critical Sociology

JF - Critical Sociology

IS - 2

ER -