Legitimacy, Authority and the Transfer of Power in Ghana

Abstract

The problems of authority and legitimacy experienced by post‐colonial states are often explained in terms of a ‘colonial legacy’. The validity of this hypothesis is examined, in the case of Ghana, by analysing changes in the kinds of legitimacy claimed by the state from the colonial period through decolonization to independence. It is concluded that, whilst the most enduring legacy of colonialism was the attempt to found legitimacy in particularistic, indigenous systems of law, the decolonization process failed to transfer any one of the new, competing claims to legitimacy which emerged. Nationalism, of its very nature, was precluded from claiming authority on the basis of expertise in being European, and was also led to deny the validity of indigenous cultures. Representative democracy too was contradictory in so far as its results often challenged the nationalists’ conception of a non‐ethnic national identity. Ultimately neither democracy nor ‘being African’ was a sufficient basis for the legitimacy of the new state.

A Communicative Action Approach to Evaluating Citizen Support for a Government's Smoking Policies

“…Strict penalties are imposed on those who violate the smoking act (Ministry of Health, 2010). Public information campaigns carrying strong fear-based antismoking messages are intensively implemented by a government agency (Health Promotion Board, 2009, 2011Liang, 2000;Poon, 2012;Thulaja, 2003).…”

“…For instance, Easton () holds that legitimacy is rooted in each citizen's perceptions of political authorities and power relations as “conforming to his own moral principles, his own sense of what is right and proper in the political sphere” (p. 278). In this view principles that motivate citizens to grant legitimacy to political authorities are grounded in the perceived moral rightfulness of government structures, officials, and decision‐making processes (Crooke, ; Zelditch, ).…”

The Past and Space: On Arguments in African Land Control

“… 10 The political relationship between central government and the population in Ghana has been mediated through local political institutions such as chiefs and native authorities during the time of indirect rule and, since 1951, a variety of local government structures at district and sub-district levels (Ayee 2000; Staniland 1975; see also Boone 2003: 174–7). The political arguments accompanying readjustments of local government structures and processes often focus on service provision, accountability and the degree of discretionary powers accorded to the decentralized bodies (Ayee 1994, 2000, 2006; Crook 1987, 1994; Crook and Manor 1998; Dunn and Robertson 1973; Ladouceur 1979; Ribot et al 2006; Saaka 1978). …”

Popular Concepts of Justice and Hybrid Judicial Institutions in Ghana

“…Legitimacy has been defined as the belief by citizens in the 'rightfulness' of an authority, in this case a state-supported legal institution (Poggi 1978: 101-2;Crook 1987). In other words, it is a moralisation of legal -and hence political -authority.…”