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

Heinz Jockers, Dirk Kohnert and Paul Nugent

No 109, GIGA Working Papers from GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies

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.

Keywords: elections; ethnicity; election observation; informal institutions; impunity; Ghana (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 N47 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Working Paper: The Successful Ghana Election of 2008: A Convenient Myth? Ethnicity in Ghana's elections revisited (2009)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:gigawp:109

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