Political Institutions Party Politics And Communication In Ghana

Working from multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives (especially, from the social sciences, media studies discourse analysis, text grammar, folklore, performing arts and linguistics), the authors of the volume investigate and illuminate pertinent issues on democratization, elections and electioneering campaigns and the constitution of order in an African context. The strategies through which political actors and the media speak about important policy issues such as healthcare, infrastructure, education, and finance during presidential sessional addresses and political campaigning are also elucidated. The extent of political ecologies’ impact on general elections, on policy issues, and on split-ticket voting (especially what causes it to happen and its impact on who gets elected and the consequent impact on party unity or disintegration) are also given scholarly attention. Also elucidated are is the entwinning of language, power, liberty, ideology and representation and issues deemed politically nerve wrecking and capable of entrapping political actors and causing the citizenry to either lose confidence in them or even call for their resignation.

Democratic governance systems need strong and well- established parties to channel the demands of citizens, govern in the public good and satisfy the basic needs of societies. Moreover, political parties are crucial actors in aggregating and articulating interests, recruiting leaders, presenting election candidates and developing competing policy proposals that provide a voice to citizens and a choice of different proposals for the processes and procedures through which society is governed. To fulfil these functions, however, trust in how the political system functions - and in political parties as cogs in this machine of government in particular - is critical. Citizens need to provide their consent (usually through electoral processes) to political parties to be their voice - and need to trust the alternative choices that parties provide them. But across the African continent, political parties appear to be suffering a malaise of low levels of confidence and trust that citizens have in them, notwithstanding the monumental changes taking place amongst citizen attitudes, especially recent trends towards greater direct political action. This edited volume contributes to critical discourse on politics, democratisation and political parties across the continent, and makes a constructive contribution to a political system malaise by suggesting a set of normative benchmarks for more open and democratic political and party systems, as well as more effective political party institutional establishment and organisation. The book is simultaneously a critical voice and constructive problem solver.."

There are essential questions surrounding Africa's digitalization journey, including whether or not the continent can truly serve as the last frontier for socio-economic transformation through digital innovation. An examination of countries such as Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, and Rwanda, which are actively pursuing digitalization, may provide some answers. To evaluate the potential implications, both real and potential, that arise from this focused pursuit, a critical analysis is necessary. Scrutiny of digital infrastructure by companies like Huawei, the emergence of artificial intelligence, and the advent of quantum computing will open new pathways to understanding and establishing promising approaches to the advancement of this region. Examining the Rapid Advance of Digital Technology in Africa offers a comprehensive exploration of the transformative power of digitalization in Africa and its implications for the continent's socio-economic development. It engages with the field of science and technology studies, linking it with socio-economic impacts and transformation, to track, analyze, understand, and critique Africa's contributions to digitalization. The chapters cover a wide range of themes, including ICTs and the business environment, education, healthcare, creative industries, media, culture, tourism, agriculture, ecology, artificial intelligence, blockchain and cryptocurrency revolution, algorithmic governance, the quantum age, and urbanization. This book is a must-read for researchers, scholars, investors, and policymakers who are interested in Africa's digital transformation, as it offers valuable insights into the latest empirical and theoretical aspects shaping the continent's ongoing digitalization.

Canadian Parties in Transition examines the transformation of party politics in Canada and the possible shape the party system might take in the near future. With chapters written by an outstanding team of political scientists, the book presents a multi-faceted image of party dynamics, electoral behaviour, political marketing, and representative democracy. The fourth edition has been thoroughly updated and includes fifteen new chapters and several new contributors. The new material covers topics such as the return to power of the Liberal Party, voting politics in Quebec, women in Canadian political parties, political campaigning, digital party politics, and municipal party politics.

This book investigates why seemingly similar African countries developed very different forms of democratic party systems.

Democratic politics is a collective enterprise, not simply because individual votes are counted to determine winners, but more fundamentally because the individual exercise of citizenship is an interdependent undertaking. Citizens argue with one another and they generally arrive at political decisions through processes of social interaction and deliberation. This book is dedicated to investigating the political implications of interdependent citizens within the context of the 1984 presidential campaign as it was experienced in the metropolitan area of South Bend, Indiana. Hence this is a community study in the fullest sense of the term. National politics is experienced locally through a series of filters unique to a particular setting and its consequences for the exercise of democratic citizenship.

The arrival of the participatory web 2.0 has been hailed by many as a media revolution, bringing with it new tools and possibilities for direct political action. Through specialised online platforms, mainstream social media or blogs, citizens in many countries are increasingly seeking to have their voices heard online, whether it is to lobby, to support or to complain about their elected representatives. Politicians, too, are adopting "new media" in specific ways, though they are often criticised for failing to seize the full potential of online tools to enter into dialogue with their electorates. Bringing together perspectives from around the world, this volume examines emerging forms of citizen participation in the face of the evolving logics of political communication, and provides a unique and original focus on the gap which exists between political uses of digital media by the politicians and by the people they represent.