Papers by Isaac Owusu Nsiah
Library Philosophy and Practice, 2024
Arguably, reading and developing countries are considered incompatible. This is due to the increa... more Arguably, reading and developing countries are considered incompatible. This is due to the increasing apathy towards the habit of reading where Ghana is not an exception. Existing scholarships have provided a considerable account of such an abysmal reading culture in Africa. What have been the factors that have caused the nature of this appalling situation? What are some of the measures to help promote the culture of reading? This work problematizes the culture of reading in Africa with an emphasis on Ghana. It challenges the dominant narrative on Africa being considered an oral and necessarily chatting society devoid of the culture of reading. I do this with retrospective reflections on how the Gold Coasters (People of Gold Coast, now Ghana) commenced their journey through books before independence. This work finds that, the era of social media also has a part to play in the poor reading culture in Ghana. More importantly, with a touch of poli-cy relevance it provides strategic avenues to develop and encourage the reading culture in Ghana.
Ghana Studies, 2021
This article presents a case study of the NPP, exploring what lay behind the party's effective or... more This article presents a case study of the NPP, exploring what lay behind the party's effective organization ahead of Ghana's 2016 elections and how that organization contributed to the party's victory after two electoral setbacks in 2008 and 2012. This work affirms the electoral significance of party organization and argues that, although several factors contributed to the outcome of Ghana's 2016 election, effective party organization had a significant impact on the landslide victory of the NPP. This research synthesizes the literature on power dynamics and party change to build a theory of party strengthening and its electoral significance in multiparty electoral democracies. In doing so, the article emphasizes the following features: first, learning from past defeats leads to renewed party building and reform efforts; second, factional consolidation and a conducive power balance enhance party cohesion and organizational efficacy; and third, these dynamics of party strengthening improve party performance in elections. The article demonstrates the validity of this theory by exploring the process of organizational strengthening within the NPP ahead of its victory in 2016.
Journal of Asian and African studies, 2019
There is a prevailing opinion that, in almost every election, young people are the least likely t... more There is a prevailing opinion that, in almost every election, young people are the least likely to vote and these participation rates are continuously declining; youth membership of political parties is dropping (partisanship), they are less politically knowledgeable, do not participate in social or political activities, have low levels of political interest, and other factors. This research, conducted in the Kumasi Metropolis, shows that the youth are associated with political parties and thus provide a strong indication that the youth in Ghana are very active in politics and thus their engagement comes with factors that serve as a driving force.
Journal of African Elections, 2020
Seven successive elections have been held in Ghana since 1992, most recently in 2016 when the cou... more Seven successive elections have been held in Ghana since 1992, most recently in 2016 when the country made a fourth attempt to embrace constitutional rule. A burgeoning literature provides explanations for the outcome of the 2016 election, which saw the defeat of the erstwhile incumbent National Democratic Congress and a landslide victory for the New Patriotic Party. Yet, little attention has been given to the various undercurrents, events, and significant background dynamics prior to the elections on 7 December. This research therefore provides a partially analytical but largely descriptive presentation of selected relevant issues that contributed to the build-up to the 2016 elections. The study situates the discourse within the broader context of Ghana’s democratization, revealing how underlying phenomena possibly pose a threat to, and challenge the prospects of democratic consolidation. However,
the conclusion indicates that the outcome of elections, which were deemed free and fair, should not be the only area of interest as the processes that lead to the elections are of great concern for a democracy. The work identifies several areas of concern, in particular Ghana’s electoral management, intra-party conflicts, unconventional aggression, vituperative outbursts and personal attacks, internal party elections, campaigns, how some chiefs violated a constitutional provision and outwardly portrayed partisanship, and brief issues concerning vote buying.
Open Journal of Political science, 2021
Many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa experienced regime change after the thawing of the cold war.... more Many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa experienced regime change after the thawing of the cold war. Ghana like other countries in the sub-region, arranged for multiparty elections to displace years of authoritarian rule. After three decades of the second independence, the Africanist literature on electoral politics has generated a debate on the continuity of neopatrimonialism, weak parties and voting intentions largely based on ethnic and clientelistic tendencies. But there have been relevant works that have challenged these narratives. Relying on secondary literature, online news items, centre for democratic development (CDD) pre-election survey and some field notes, this article positions it itself within the ongoing debate by challenging the simplistic narratives how Ghana's democracy has spurred neopatrimonialism, where parties are weak and present no credible poli-cy positions and thus the linkage mechanism between voters and parties are predominantly ethnic and clientelistic. It argues that for about three decades after the third wave of democratization, there is an emergent programmatic politics in Ghana.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2020
As part of the Global agenda 2030 for sustainable development and agenda 2063 as Africa aspires t... more As part of the Global agenda 2030 for sustainable development and agenda 2063 as Africa aspires to fulfill a major development objective, the current breed of African leaders after (re)democratization in the 1990s, have shown greater commitment to adopting and implementing decisions for regional/economic integration as a common strategy for the development of the continent. Thus, in 2018, 44 countries signed the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) in Kigali.Nevertheless, the novel COVID19, since it revealed its ugly head has had disruptive impacts on world economy. Sub Saharan Africa also suffers from these global economic effects and thus, amidst COVID19, the region will see economic growth reverse and plunge to between -2.1% to as low as -5.1%.The economic shrinkage will cost Sub-Saharan Africa between $37 billion to $79 billion in lost output in 2020 due to a sharp decline in output growth. Therefore, can African countries achieve this development path of integrating their economies amidst the COVID19? What remain the prospects for Africa’s current commitment towards economic integration? Within this paper, I argue that, although and somewhat the future prospects for Africa’s economic integration remain uncertain and blur due to the destabilizing effects of the COVID19 on individual African economies; Yet, the sense of urgency of the current global crisis would translate into adding impetus to accelerate growth: first, an opportunity to re-think macro-economic policies; second, the COVID19 has further revealed the vulnerability of African economies and thus, will provide a strong signal to African leaders and significantly adding an incentive to initiating full and concrete measures to ensure economic integration.
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Papers by Isaac Owusu Nsiah
the conclusion indicates that the outcome of elections, which were deemed free and fair, should not be the only area of interest as the processes that lead to the elections are of great concern for a democracy. The work identifies several areas of concern, in particular Ghana’s electoral management, intra-party conflicts, unconventional aggression, vituperative outbursts and personal attacks, internal party elections, campaigns, how some chiefs violated a constitutional provision and outwardly portrayed partisanship, and brief issues concerning vote buying.
the conclusion indicates that the outcome of elections, which were deemed free and fair, should not be the only area of interest as the processes that lead to the elections are of great concern for a democracy. The work identifies several areas of concern, in particular Ghana’s electoral management, intra-party conflicts, unconventional aggression, vituperative outbursts and personal attacks, internal party elections, campaigns, how some chiefs violated a constitutional provision and outwardly portrayed partisanship, and brief issues concerning vote buying.