Introduction
Let’s begin by reminding ourselves of the meaning of Democracy. Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States in his famous definition referred to democracy as “government of the people, by the people and for the people”.
Lincoln in his definition recognized the fact that democracy is not just a system of government where people line up to exercise their franchise and then go to sleep. Rather, and perhaps even more importantly, is the consciousness that the government that emerges from this exercise belongs to the people and must work only and only in the interest of the people. This simply means “the people” form the necleus, around which every other thing must revolve but not the government nor the individuals that form the government. With this background, we can now look at what I call the “Pillars of a functioning Democracy”.
Understanding “the Pillars of a Functioning Democracy”
From Lincoln’s famous definition, four main pillars of democracy have been widely discussed. In this article, I have decided to provide an additional pillar which is very important in order to bring total justice to this topic.
1. The Political Pillar: fundamentally, this has to with conditions and systems that ensures participation of the people in making decisions that affect their lives. Also, it is closely linked with freedom of expression, the right to vote and be voted for, as well as the right to form political parties or join any political party of one’s choice. Here also, issues of public accountability either directly by engaging the people or indirectly through their representatives in parliament are paramount. It also encompass separation of powers, checks and balances in terms of how the various organs of government function.
2. The Economic Pillar: a functioning democracy must prioritize the production and distribution of basic goods and services that ensures the survival of the people. It also has do to with instituting measures that ensures that goods produced are affordable to all persons.
3. The Social Pillar: issues of equity and equality are very essential in a functioning democracy. Democracy recognizes the needs of minority groups and the vulnerables. The emphasis is on addressing inequality and differential vulnerabilities through redistributive policies and institutions whose cardinal responsibility is to protect and promote the welfare of such minority groups.
4. The Legal Pillar: A functioning democracy is partly a function of the effectiveness of laws that regulate the the activities of both the people and the government they establish through their votes. The principle of rule of law is held in the highest esteem against arbitrary conducts and display of tyrannical tendencies.
5. The Evironmental Pillar: Democracy is not practiced in a vacuum. Social interactions occurs within specific geographical contexts. Invariably, the choices and decisions that the people make affect their environment which tends to affect them back. Therefore, any discussion about a functioning democracy cannot be complete without incorporating the environmental dimension. Consequently, there is an increasing polarity of green political parties. No wonder advanced democracies across the world have made and continue to make protection of their environment a necessity.
Why Ghana’s Democracy a Ticking Time Bomb
Having digested the meaning of democracy and the pillars upon which it rests, shall we now delve into the core objective of this article? Of course Ghana as country has been relatively stable and peaceful in the last three decades. Although this achievement has been largely attributed to the democratic system of governance, several factors have emerged over the years which threatens the sustainability of this democracy, rendering it as a ticking time bomb.
These factors are directly militating against the five pillars described above and include the following:
1. Economic hardship and unemployment: Unemployment, particularly graduate unemployment has become almost unsurmountable over the years and continue to worsen, posing an existential threat to the sustainability the country’s democracy.
2. Political extremism: nationalism and patriotism is regrettably decreasing at an alarming rate. This is as a result of the believe that one has to be aligned to a political party to secure jobs and other necessities.
3. Vote buying: the menance of vote buying during elections at all levels is a big threat to Ghana’s democracy. The implication is that people go in to government not because they are competent enough but could pay more, resulting in square pegs in round holes.
4. Increasing inequality: although Ghana has achieved increased GDP growth especially after discovery of crude oil, inequality continue to be high. What this means is that majority of the resources are concentrated in the the hands of few affluent individuals. Although several studies have called for redistributive policies such as social interventions, the success story has been rather infinitesimal. More to the point is the huge gap between the political class and other public office holders when it comes to renumeration. The issue of article 71 office holders has been widely condemned but it appears nothing is going to be done about it for now until the 1992 constitution is reviewed.
5. Increasing resentment against political leaders: there is increasing resentment against politicians in Ghana due to unfulfilled promises, lack of sincerity and corruption.
6. Corruption: corruption has become a great threat to Ghana’s democracy. It appears that everyone hate the canker until they are called upon to lead, then it suddenly becomes a close friend.
7. Increasing mistrust for the judiciary: recent studies have shown that there is increasing mistrust for the judiciary in Ghana. Some of these studies and opinion polls have suggested that appreciable number of Ghanaians do not believe they can actually get justice when they call upon the court. This perception has been arguably consolidated by the exposé by the investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas in which some judges were captured on tape allegedly collecting bribes to influence the outcome of cases they are presiding over.
8. Unacceptable levels of waste and economic mismanagement: Ghana’s democracy has been characterised by unacceptable levels of waste and economic mismanagement over the years, resulting high rates of inflation and exchange rate. This is rendering local businesses uncompetitive whilst reducing the purchasing power of households and individuals.
9. Deteriorating environmental conditions: environmental degradation is on all time high. Illegal mining activities are destroying arable farmlands and valuable water resources, thereby destroying the livelihoods of thousands of people. Major cities are becoming more flood prone with people losing properties costing millions of cedis partly due to poor waste management.
10. Increasing perception that all political parties in Ghana are the same: a key threat to Ghana’s democracy is the idea that all, especially the two major political parties between which power has alternated since 1992 are the same.
11. Diminishing confidence in the practice of democracy itself: the ultimate effect of the aforementioned factors is that majority of the citizenery have lost hope in the the country’s democracy, believing that order systems of government could be be a better alternative.
The Way Forward
Clearly, Ghana’s democracy is at a crossroads. There is an urgent need to mitigate these threats in order preserve this democracy and continue on the path of peace and tranquility. More importantly, the 1992 constitution must be reviewed without any further delay. Until this is done, Ghana’s democracy is better described as a ticking time bomb.
By Samuel Dogbey Nanewortor
.
Content created and supplied by: THE_FIFTH_ESTATE (via Opera
News )
, . , . () , , , , , , , , . / , and/or . , , and/or , and/or