UNU-WIDER WP/2012/40 Ghana: The Limits of External Democracy Assistance
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WP/040 Ghana: The Limits of External Democracy Assistance
Ghana’s experience since the early 1990s indicates that external aid can significantly impact a country’s democratic transition. External democracy assistance has been a crucial, positive factor in Ghana’s steady evolution into an electoral democracy over the past two decades. Continuing gaps in the quality of Ghana’s democracy confirms, however, that even sustained external support and encouragement cannot easily overcome local elite resistance to specific reforms as well as structural and cultural obstacles prevailing in the domestic environment, at least in the short and medium terms.
- Publisher:
- UNU-WIDER
- Series:
- WIDER Working Paper
- Volume:
- 2012/40
- Title:
- WP/040 Ghana: The Limits of External Democracy Assistance
- Authors:
- E. Gyimah-Boadi and Theo Yakah
- Publication date:
- April 2012
- ISBN 13 Web:
- 978-92-9230-503-1
- Copyright holder:
- © UNU-WIDER
- Copyright year:
- 2012
- Keywords:
- Ghana, electoral democracy, foreign aid
- JEL:
- D72, F35, N47
- Sponsor:
- This working paper has been prepared within the UNU-WIDER project ‘Foreign Aid and Democracy in Africa’ directed by Danielle Resnick, which is a component of the larger UNU-WIDER programme ‘Foreign Aid: Research and Communication (ReCom)’. UNU-WIDER gratefully acknowledges specific programme contributions from the governments of Denmark (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Danida) and Sweden (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Sida) for the Research and Communication (ReCom) programme. UNU-WIDER also acknowledges core financial support to UNU-WIDER’s work programme from the governments of Finland (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), the United Kingdom (Department for International Development), and the governments of Denmark and Sweden.
- Format:
- online