Political parties are now at the front of Africa’s democratic practice. But political parties also bear some responsibility for the current dissatisfaction with democracy in many parts of the continent.

The basic political organization of major parties in government and opposition evolved out of undemocratic environments in the early 1990s but has survived the phase of political liberalization. Only in the 21st century can we observe the continuous development of party organization in key countries. Parties present candidates for elective office, form governments, and implement public policies. Using evidence from Ghana, the proposed study examines the development of activism of political parties in Africa in the past three decades.

Focus area

The proposed study analyzes the activism of political parties through time and space. For the first time in several African states, we can study the continuous development of the party organization uninterrupted for over three decades. This period of stability, albeit with severe challenges, calls for deep investigations of electoral politics in Ghana.

Key objectives

How activism of political parties evolved and impacted society over time is certainly not a new topic of scholarly inquiry. Still, the proposed study addresses an important question in African party studies: what factors incentivize activism within political parties? The proposed study seeks to deepen our understanding of the variables contributing to the activism of parties in a two-party system.

Recordings/interviews in the project: