Student activism and democratic quality in Ghana’s Fourth Republic

Abstract

Student activism has been pivotal in Ghana's political and democratic history. Prior to Ghana's Fourth Republic, student activism was highly confrontational and entailed student support or opposition to the various regimes depending on the extent to which the regimes were accepted by all as being rightful or legitimate. After 23 years of uninterrupted constitutional democracy, Ghana has earned the accolade of being a successful electoral democracy. However, in terms of democratic progression, the mere conduct of periodic elections that sometimes lead to alternation of power is described as elementary and a low quality democracy. Given that Ghana's democratisation process since 1992 has not been static, some remarkable strides have been made in improving the nation's democratic quality. Using a purely qualitative research design and interviews with some former student activists, this study argues that the modest strides made in the quest for high quality liberal democracy in Ghana cannot be meaningfully discussed without acknowledging the invaluable contributions of student activism. The study further suggests a relationship between democratic quality and student activism. It postulates that the shift from the usually oppositional and sometimes violent student activism in Ghana's Fourth Republic could partially be attributed to the country's strides made in the drive towards democratic maturity. For students to continue their role as vanguards of democracy in Ghana, the study recommends an amalgamation of all tertiary networks and other student splinter groups under the National Union of Ghana Students; and a shift in the modus operandi of the Union from confrontation to the use of dialogue and other peaceful democratic means to achieve its objectives. This could contribute to the restoration of the Union's former glory as a united, national and independent mouth-piece of students in all national issues.

Pathways of Electoral Clientelism in University Student Elections in Ghana: An Exploratory Study

“…Case studies are also useful for including different approaches and methods to the phenomena being studied (Yin, 2003, p.8). As such, the University of Ghana (UG) and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) were selected, given their historical association with active student politics in Ghana and its relation to national politics (Van Gyampo, 2013). The two universities stand out as Ghana's flagship and oldest universities with the largest student populations that have a growing feature of electoral clientelism in Ghana.…”

“…For instance, Oanda (2016b) argues that the partisan influences by politicians have contributed to the competitive nature of student political activities and the 'massive monetisation' of student elections across various HEI campuses in Africa. As Oanda and Omanga (2018) emphasise, university student elections have been associated with patron-client politics and political influences Thus, national politics has been implicated in campus politics as politicians seek to build political clients in African universities using students (Oanda, 2016b;Oanda & Omanga, 2018;Paalo & Van Gyampo, 2019) who have historically been the 'mouthpiece' of the youth and society in general (Van Gyampo, 2013). These dynamics capture the new forms of politicisation and campus-partisan linkages in student politics in Africa, notably Uganda, Kenya, and Ghana Oanda, 2016a;Paalo & Van Gyampo, 2019).…”

“…In Uganda, for example, student guild candidates at Makerere University are expected to provide music at campus events and also beverages and alcohol to their supporters, usually through the financial support of some politicians (Mugume, 2015;Oanda, 2016b). As some scholars emphasise, the primary 'non-partisan' responsibility of student leaders to promote the welfare of students has become heavily 'politicised' by partisan politics across various universities in Africa (Abrefa Busia, 2019;Van Gyampo, 2013). This situation however, affects student governance as students with good leadership potential but lacking party affiliation refrain from student electoral politics because of the increasing monetisation of university student elections in Africa (Oanda, 2016b).…”

Black Power, Raw Soul, and Race in Ghana

“…The presence of African American intellectuals and students in postcolonial Ghana created a space for practicing Pan-Africanism, for engaging with political matters relevant to Ghana and the US, and for the growth of a highly respected, rigorous intellectual environment. Unfortunately, as Nkrumah began to place more limitations on students, faculty, and staff at the universities, the reputation of the country as welcoming, free, and progressive eroded during the early sixties (Asiedu-Acquah 2019; Nimako 2010; Van Gyampo 2013; Ahlman 2017; Bedasse 2017). Because of this decrease in intellectual freedom, many African American scholars had left Ghana by 1960 and 1961 (Gaines 2006).…”

Student politics at Makerere University in the Lens of Schmitter and Streeck’s Framework: student leaders and political parties

“…Given the changes in the national political systems of most African countries through mainly adopting democratic political leadership (Gyampo, 2013), the advantages of democratic rule such as political stability have also had an effect on the higher education systems. Various scholars have shown the increase in enrolment rates on the continent arguing that the continent is experiencing massification at institutional and national levels (Mohamedbhai, 2014;Luescher, 2016).…”