Institutional design of Ghana and the Fourth Republic: on the checks and balances between the state and society

Abstract

The paper interrogates Ghana’s institutional design efforts since the 1950s and argues that the longstanding political stability of the current Fourth Republic notwithstanding, a perennial feature of all regimes is the assumption that the state has the capacity and willingness to check itself. The Fourth Republic has two flaws. First, the three arms of government – executive, legislature and judiciary – must put each other in check, and society is only mainly invited to vote in four-year cycles. Society must trust the state to exhibit goodwill. The second flaw, which is the more problematic, is the apportioning of unfettered power of appointment and dismissal to the executive, which disproportionately overshadows the two other arms of government. Using extensive archival data, local media and secondary sources, the paper interrogates the power dynamics between the state and society over time. The conclusion is that neither a very strong state nor a disproportionately assertive society is good for political stability. A weak state and a dormant society are no better options either. Ghana’s civil society has contributed to taming the power of a strong state, and that is the best promise for sustaining the current regime if it continues on this pathway responsibly.

Keywords:

• Institutional design
• Fourth Republic of Ghana
• political stability
• 1992 constitution
• counterbalancing power
• Gilgamesh dilemma

Acknowledgements

I wish to express gratitude to Dr Roland Burke for providing thorough feedback on initial drafts of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 The interviews were part of a broader engagement I undertook between June and August 2021 for a doctoral thesis, which includes interviews with over 100 stakeholders in the extractive industry in Ghana. Questions with the six key informants for this paper revolved around the constraints and opportunities for enhancing the interaction between the state and society in Ghana. The interviews were conducted in English and via Zoom. The analysis was deductive, applying the theory of institutional design to the in-depth interpretation of the data.

2 I used search words such as ‘institutional design’, ‘democracy in Ghana’, ‘Ghana since independence’ and ‘Ghana’s Fourth Republic’, among others, in online repositories.

3 The rioting was triggered by anger over the killing of three World War II veterans at the crossroads to the Christiansburg Castle by a British soldier.

4 The JPCC was established by the Coussey Committee Report a decade earlier and authorised by the Local Government Ordinance.

5 Interview with a legal practitioner and member of PIAC, 18 June 2021, Accra (via Zoom).

6 “Domelevo Replies Akufo-Addo: Proceed on Leave Directive Is Unconstitutional,” Graphic Online, 3 July 2020, available at https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/domelevo-responds-to-akufo-addo-s-directive-to-proceed-on-leave.html (accessed on 8 May 2021).

7 “Domelevo’s Forced Retirement Unlawful – CSOs,” Citi Newsroom, 10 March 2021, available at https://citinewsroom.com/2021/03/domelevos-forced-retirement-unlawful-csos/ (accessed on 8 May 2021).

8 “‘Montie 3’ Remission Was Lawful – Supreme Court Rules,” Graphic Online, 22 November 2018, available at https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/montie-3-remission-was-lawfu-supreme-court-rules-ghana-news.html (accessed on 22 August 2021).

9 Interview with a Chief Executive Director of an Africa-wide civil society organisation based in Ghana, 17 August 2021 (via Zoom).

10 See “Full Video: Hawa Koomson Vetting 2021,” YouTube, published 18 February 2021, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mVgZBZbdic (accessed on 8 May 2021).

11 “Akufo-Addo Fires Justice Dery, Two Other Judges over Anas Expose,” Citi Newsroom, 16 December 2018, available at https://citinewsroom.com/2018/12/akufo-addo-fires-justice-dery-two-other-judges/ (accessed on 22 August 2021).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by La Trobe University Postgraduate Training Program and the Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship .

Notes on contributors

Clement Sefa-Nyarko

Clement Sefa-Nyarko has over nine years of experience in critical social inquiry in sub-Saharan Africa. His research focuses on social determinants of political stability and is currently finishing a Doctoral Study at La Trobe University, Australia, in which he is reframing the natural resource curse discourse using political theory analyses.