Department of Political Science
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Browsing Department of Political Science by Author "Essuman-Johnson, A."
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Item Changing Forms of Political Communication and Voter Choices In Ghana’s Elections, 1992-2008(University of Ghana, 2015-07) Asah-Asante, K.; Ninsin, K. A.; Boafo-Arthur, A.; Essuman-Johnson, A.; University Of Ghana, College of Humanities, School of Social Sciences, Department of Political ScienceThe Fourth Republic has witnessed six successive elections, including those of 1992, 2000 and 2008, which have been examined in this thesis. In all these elections, the role of political communication has been crucial in determining voter choices. Accounting for the accretion of political communication is the liberalization of the media landscape in 1995, which led to the proliferation of radio and television stations as a complement to the explosion of newspapers after the restoration of democratic rule in 1992. In these elections, politicians have made effective use of messages and channels of communication to influence the choice of the electorate. Of the messages that have been used with great effect, those relating to the economy, development, corruption, slogans and gestures stand out. This study, which examined the changes in forms and sophistication of political communication and their ultimate influence on voter choices in the three elections, found out that messages on the economy were most important in influencing voter choices. Significant though were messages on development, corruption and in slogan and gesture, their impact was not phenomenal as the economy. Of least influence were messages on ethnicity, human rights, accountability and transparency. In this study, political rally which emerged as the most influential channels of communicating messages to voters during the three elections has exposed the limitations of the impact of traditional media channels in effectively communicating messages during elections. That said, the study has underscored the relevance of political communication in elections and identified the type of messages and appropriate channels available to politicians to communicate their messages. To influence more voters, politicians should seek expert advice in identifying issues of concern to the electorate and develop them into effective messages as well as select relevant channels to cItem Institutions and Human Security in the Post-Conflict Development of Liberia, 2003-2011(University of Ghana, 2012-07) Attuquayefio, P.K.; Boafo-Arthur, K.; Essuman-Johnson, A.; Ziblim, I.One of the significant challenges confronting the international community in the post-Cold War era is dealing with intra-state conflicts in various parts of the world, particularly in Africa. In addressing this issue, it has also become essential over time, to address the question of what states must do upon the cessation of hostilities to prevent a recurrence of the conflict. Consequently, post-conflict development, including the rebuilding of infrastructure, political and social institutions, demobilizing, disarming and reintegrating ex-combatants and generally creating conditions for sustained development has according to Krause & Jütersonke 2005 become the ‘core business’ of the international humanitarian and development community. This has created a peacebuilding industry that seeks to prevent recidivism in violent conflicts. While there have been successes, there have also been significant failures in this regard. In 2003, Liberia brought to an end a fourteen year old civil war with the signing of a comprehensive peace accord. With a legacy of institutions shattered by war and long periods of mal-governance Liberia began a process of post conflict development aimed at addressing the human security needs of its people. The main objective of the study is to examine human security in the post conflict development of Liberia from an institutional perspective. A critical aspect of this is to interrogate the extent to which the record of human security is deepening historic socio- economic inequalities and how that threatens the sustainability of Liberia’s post-conflict development. The research hypothesised that the floundering state of institution building in post- conflict Liberia is likely to foster uneven results in human security, re-establish socio-economic inequalities, and engender negative consequences with the potential of instigating relapse into violent conflict. The research findings noted that, whilst Liberia has made tremendous efforts at building institutions to advance various components of human security, there is still a lot of socio-economic inequality between the various counties. The continued spatial inequality is undermining the sustainability of post-conflict development. This will cause Liberia to relapse into conflict.