Democratic Civil-Military Bargain: Examining the Ghanaian Experience

ABSTRACT

African countries have witnessed a significant decline in military coups since the 1990s, yet civil-military relations (CMRs) are still problematic and are further complicated by the episodic occurrence of military coups particularly since 2000. Since Ghana returned to multiparty politics in 1992, the country has won praise as one of the most successful examples of demilitarisation and democratisation. This paper examines the fundamental changes including norms influencing CMRs and lessons from Ghana’s experience. It argues that the state of Ghana’s CMRs has been a consequence of institutional change, norm diffusion, and changing attitudes of actors both in politics and civil-society. However, CMR bargain is fragile and uncertain because of the temptation by politicians to use the military for political ends including elections, to get ahead of their opponents.

Acknowledgement

The author is grateful to the CIVIL WARS Anonymous Reviewers and Editors for their helpful comments on the initial drafts of the paper. I am also grateful to Judith Damaoh Awere, Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana for her research assistantship.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. President Omar al-Bashir came to power through a military coup in 1989, but won elections in 2010 and 2015 that was marred by a boycott from the main opposition parties. He ruled with an iron fist and was accused of human rights abuses.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Richard Asante

Richard Asante is senior research fellow and lecturer in the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon. His research interest covers areas such as peace and security governance, CMRs and state building, democratic governance, international relations.