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Perceptions of Well-being in Ghana: 1970 and 1975

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

Fred M. Hayward
Fred M. Hayward*
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin, Madison
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Extract

A sense of well-being has been associated in the literature with a wide variety of political phenomena, attitudes, and behavior including stability (Gurr, 1970: 148-54), optimism about future development (Gallup, 1976), satisfaction with government (Hayward, 1974: 184-85), political power (Owusu, 1970: 325-31), and participation (Ross, 1975: 119). Low levels of well-being have been associated with conflict and instability (Gurr, 1970: ch. 2), hostility toward government (Templeton, 1966), and cynicism (Schatzberg, 1977: ch. 4). This paper explores the relationship between sense of well-being and a number of such political phenomena in Ghana in 1970 and 1975. Although there is a sizeable literature on well-being in western nations, there has been very little research on this subject elsewhere. Most of what we know or think is known about well-being and politics in Africa is based on extrapolations from studies of western political systems or on conventional wisdom about the role of well-being in African politics. This study is designed to investigate well-being as perceived by the individual in Ghana. The distribution of perceptions of well-being within the sample population will be looked at, views about the relationship of national government to well-being will be explored, and its relationship to political attitudes, attachments, behavior, and evaluation of government will be examined.

The study is based on two systematic surveys carried out by the author in 1970 and 1975 in six Ghanaian communities (see Appendix for description of the sample). The two surveys are based on random samples carried out in the same sample areas. Although this was not a national survey, a number of characteristics of the sample populations approximate that shown in the national census allowing cautious speculation about the Ghanaian populace. The major focus of this paper is on change over time and in this sense the data are comparable, randomly selected, and based on identical interview schedules (with a few exceptions which are noted). This is, sadly, one of the few cases of replication and of longitudinal analysis in Africa.

Type
Research Article
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , April 1979 , pp. 109 - 125
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1979

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References

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