The nature of ideology in Ghana's 2012 election

Obeng-Odoom, F

The nature of ideology in Ghana's 2012 election

Obeng-Odoom, F

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Publisher:: Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Journal of African Elections, 2013, 12 (2), pp. 75 - 95
Issue Date:: 2013-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Obeng-Odoom, F https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3997-7751	en_US
dc.date.issued	2013-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Journal of African Elections, 2013, 12 (2), pp. 75 - 95	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	1609-4700	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/27849
dc.description.abstract	The nature of ideology in Ghana's 2012 elections has not been studied, but to do so is key to understanding social, economic and political developments in the country. This article tries to fill the gap. Theoretical guidance is taken from Giovanni Arrighi's The Long Twentieth Century (1994). While the analysis is cast in the longue durée, the empirical evidence is mostly extracted from the 2012 elections. Contrary to earlier findings that ideology plays no part in Ghanaian politics, it is argued that it was central, to the campaign at least, but that the position is one of common economic liberalism rather than multiple ideologies. So, while rhetorically the parties asserted their differences, substantially and substantively, aspiration rather than ascription was the common unifying logic of the two major political parties. This assessment has some positive but mostly very disturbing implications for the distribution of wealth.	en_US
dc.publisher	Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Journal of African Elections	en_US
dc.title	The nature of ideology in Ghana's 2012 election	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	2	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	12	en_US
utslib.for	1699 Other Studies in Human Society	en_US
utslib.for	1606 Political Science	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building/School of Built Environment
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CCDP - Contemporary Design Practice
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.consider-herdc	true	en_US
pubs.issue	2	en_US
pubs.volume	12	en_US

Abstract:

The nature of ideology in Ghana's 2012 elections has not been studied, but to do so is key to understanding social, economic and political developments in the country. This article tries to fill the gap. Theoretical guidance is taken from Giovanni Arrighi's The Long Twentieth Century (1994). While the analysis is cast in the longue durée, the empirical evidence is mostly extracted from the 2012 elections. Contrary to earlier findings that ideology plays no part in Ghanaian politics, it is argued that it was central, to the campaign at least, but that the position is one of common economic liberalism rather than multiple ideologies. So, while rhetorically the parties asserted their differences, substantially and substantively, aspiration rather than ascription was the common unifying logic of the two major political parties. This assessment has some positive but mostly very disturbing implications for the distribution of wealth.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/27849