Explaining Change in Voter Behaviour: A Study of the Lawra Constituency in the 2008 Parliamentary Elections in Ghana

Abstract

No doubt, the Lawra constituency is one of the strong holds of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Ghana. This is amply demonstrated by the fact that the party has won four consecutive parliamentary elections since the inception of the fourth republic. However, in the 2008 parliamentary elections, the party lost the seat to the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the first time. This loss shocked not only the NDC party but other keen political observers. This study sets out to investigate the factors that accounted for the change in voter behaviour of the Lawra constituents in the 2008 parliamentary elections. The study was based on a survey conducted for 150 respondents. After the analysis of the survey results, the findings point to the fact that the change in the voter behaviour was as a result of the inaccessibility of the NDC incumbent member of parliament (MP) to and neglect of his constituents, his complacent posture and inability to deliver development to his constituents as against his main rival NPP candidate who was perceived to be more development oriented, sympathetic, accessible to the needs of his constituents and aided by his government being incumbent, he was able to unseat the NDC MP.