Reforming Dysfunctional Institutions Through Democratisation? Reflections on Ghana

Abstract

How can Africa's societies reorient and rebuild state apparatuses where predatory, neo-patrimonial governance has held sway? This emerges as a key question if one accepts that dysfunctional institutions, and not just poor initial conditions, a hostile international environment, external shocks, or policy errors, have impeded Africa's economic recovery. Although analysts and organisations place differing weights on these various causes, few now dissent from the consensus that political-institutional reforms are a necessary condition for African development. Yet recognising the need for such change is one thing; knowing how to bring it about is quite another. Few guidelines exist to steer this complex and long-term task. Democratisation is now often cited as one means to foster institutional renewal, and this article draws on the Ghanaian experience to reflect upon the efficacy of this route.