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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | One-party State, no-party State, multi-party State? 35 years of democracy, authoritarianism and development in Ghana |
Author: | Haynes, J. |
Year: | 1992 |
Periodical: | The Journal of Communist Studies |
Volume: | 8 |
Issue: | 2 |
Pages: | 41-62 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Ghana |
Subjects: | authoritarianism democracy |
Abstract: | Ghana was the first sub-Saharan African country to attain independence in 1957. The victorious independence party, the Convention People's Party (CPP) led by Nkrumah, ruled with a Marxist orientation until 1966. During much of the 1970s, a 'no-party', economic-nationalist military regime held power. Since late 1981 the country has been ruled by the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) government of Flt.-Lt. Jerry Rawlings. At the onset of PNDC rule, the dominant ideology appeared to be a variant of Marxism-Leninism. Over the next ten years, however, the regime presided over a number of policy changes: the adoption of an IMF-supported economic recovery programme; political decentralization; multiparty politics. The regime introduced a democratic political system in 1988, based initially on district-level bodies, to be supplemented by a national-level assembly in 1993. This article describes Ghana as an example of the now general African retreat from 'dirigiste', quasi-socialist, politically authoritarian policies. Notes, ref., sum. |