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Minor parties and democratic governance in Ghana's fourth republic, 1992 - 2022

Thesis (PhD (Political Science))--Univeristy of Pretoria, 2023.

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Other Authors: Graham, Victoria
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2024
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Graham, Victoria
author_browse Graham, Victoria
author_facet Graham, Victoria
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2023 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Thesis (PhD (Political Science))--Univeristy of Pretoria, 2023.
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:36:18.633Z
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spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/94280 Minor parties and democratic governance in Ghana's fourth republic, 1992 - 2022 Graham, Victoria ericyobo@gmail.com Yobo, Eric UCTD Democratic Governance Duverger's Law Minor Parties Election Ghana Thesis (PhD (Political Science))--Univeristy of Pretoria, 2023. Despite the rising interest in party politics in Africa, minor party activism remains largely understudied, particularly in the context of plurality-based two-party systems. This study therefore examined minor parties in Ghana’s emergent two-party system (1992-2022), with the aim of investigating their continued motivation for electoral competition; the constraints on their electoral success; and their contributions to Ghana’s democratic governance. The study was based on a multiple-case study research design, relying on semi-structured in-depth interviews and observation to generate qualitative data on three minor parties in Ghana, namely, the Convention People’s Party (CPP), the People’s National Convention (PNC) and the Progressive People’s Party (PPP). Findings show that despite the minor parties’ limited chance of winning elections, the rationale for competing is largely driven by the affordability of the minor party ticket, opportunities for party patronage, ideological inclination, pursuit of political recognition, amongst others. The identified constraints on the electoral success of the minor parties are grounded predominantly in both institutional and non-institutional factors. The institutional constraints generally include the statutory rules, established norms and conventions pertaining to Ghanaian politics which tend to hinder minor parties’ development; whereas the non-institutional constraints are mostly non-statutory, but prevalent endogenous and exogenous factors, which inhibit the minor parties’ development and electoral viability. Although the electoral impact of the minor parties in Ghana is indeed limited, they contribute to parliamentary enrollment; provide considerable space and alternative opportunities for citizens’ participation in political life; promote constitutionalism and rule of law; influence public policy-making; and augment democratic accountability. Whilst the minor parties are encouraged to harmonize their candidate nominations due to their shared political ideology, institutional reforms such as the adoption of a proportional representation system are recommended to augment their electoral viability and contributions to Ghana’s fourth republican democratic governance. Political Sciences PhD (Political Science) Unrestricted Faculty of Humanities 2024-02-05T09:09:43Z 2024-02-05T09:09:43Z 2024-04 2023-08 Thesis * A2024 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/94280 10.25403/UPresearchdata.25041398 en © 2023 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Democratic Governance
Duverger's Law
Minor Parties
Election
Ghana
Minor parties and democratic governance in Ghana's fourth republic, 1992 - 2022
title Minor parties and democratic governance in Ghana's fourth republic, 1992 - 2022
title_full Minor parties and democratic governance in Ghana's fourth republic, 1992 - 2022
title_fullStr Minor parties and democratic governance in Ghana's fourth republic, 1992 - 2022
title_full_unstemmed Minor parties and democratic governance in Ghana's fourth republic, 1992 - 2022
title_short Minor parties and democratic governance in Ghana's fourth republic, 1992 - 2022
title_sort minor parties and democratic governance in ghana s fourth republic 1992 2022
topic UCTD
Democratic Governance
Duverger's Law
Minor Parties
Election
Ghana
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/94280