This document provides an outline for a study examining consociational theory and democratic stability in Ghana. It begins with an introduction and statement of the problem, which is to examine the nature of political interactions between state elites and traditional rulers as defined by Ghana's 1992 constitution. The objectives are then outlined, which include identifying critical junctures, the formal structures of interaction between elites, and mechanisms animating their relationship. Themes and literature in areas like state formation, elite responses, and attributes of the state are briefly reviewed. The theoretical framework draws on consociational theory and concepts of democratic stability. Methodology is discussed, applying a critical realism approach. Potential limitations are noted. Methods of data analysis include stratifying Ghana

1. Consociational Theory
and
Democratic Stability of
Ghana’s Fourth Republic

2. Order of Presentation
1. Introductory remarks
2. Statement of the Problem
3. Objectives of the study
4. Themes and a snap-shot literature reviewed
5. Theoretical framework
6. Methodology
7. Method and Shortcomings
8. Method of Data Analysis
9. Finding
10.Discussion of Finding and recommendation for
further research

3. Consociational Theory
and the
Challenge of
Democratic Instability
in
Ethnically Heterogeneous Democratic States
“...resolution of intense conflictual preferences in the plural
society is not manageable in a democratic frame work”.
Rabushka, A., & Shepsle, K. A. (1972). Politics in Plural
Societies: A Theory
of Democratic Instability. Columbus: Charles E. Merrill Publishing
Company.pp.217.

4. Arend
Lijphart
Elite
Consensus and
Accommodation
Ian Lustick
Elite
Manipulation
and
Control
I. Lijphart, A. Democracy in plural societies: A comparative
exploration. Yale University Press, 1977.
II.Lustick, I. (1979). Stability in deeply divided societies:
consociationalism versus control. World Politics, 31(3),

5. Consociational Theory
and
Democratic Stability
of
Ghana’s Fourth Republic:
The Theory and the Puzzle

6. Controversy and Ghana’s Puzzle
1992 Power Sharing Constitution + Democratic Stability in a
Multi-ethnic State
?/
Is Democratic Stability due to
Inter-elite Consensus /Accommodation?
or
Inter-elite Manipulation / Control?

7. Statement of the Problem
To what extent are the
consociational elements
of the Ghana’s 1992 constitution
articles of elite consensus?

8. Research Objectives
Main Research Objective
To examine the nature of political
interactions between state elites
and traditional rulers as defined by
the power sharing provisions of the
1992 Constitution

9. Research Objectives
Derived Research Objectives
1. Identify the critical juncture of the political
processes that led to the nature of the power
sharing provisions of the 1992 constitution.
2. Outline the formal structure of the interaction
between state elites and traditional rulers
3. Outline the political circumstances, forces and
events which enabled (2) above
4. Delineate the mechanisms animating the relationship
between the two elite constituencies

10. Research Objectives
Derived Research Objectives
5. Given (1-4) above deduce if the
configuration mapped out reveal inter-elite
consensuses or control.

11. Themes
and
Snap-shot Literature Reviewed
Modern state formation, Dynamics of Conflict and Pattern of
Elite Response
>>Coercion
>>Tension from forces domination and resistance:
Instability
>>Elite response: Liberal or Authoritarian
•Bendix, R. (1960). Max Weber: An Intellectual Portrait.
New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc.

12. Themes
and
Snap-shot Literature Reviewed
Attributes of the State and Analytical Reification
“Monopoly over the use of force”
“the autonomy of the state is greater in foreign than
domestic policy”
Reification
Imbuing intangible and inanimate properties with the
properties of pseudo-persons endowed with animate
properties.
• Berger, P., & Pullberg, S. (1965). Reification and Social
Critique of Consiousness. History and Theory Vol. 4, No. 2, 196-
211.

13. Themes
and
Snap-shot Literature Reviewed
Foucault’s caution against Reification of the State
The “state” is not a “thing”
It is a “performance” with a “transactional reality”
between contending constituencies locked in conflict.
• O'Farrell, C. (2005). Michel Foucault. London: Sage Publications.
• Ferguson, J. (1990). The Anti-politics Machine:"Development", Depoliticization
and Buraucratic Power in Lesotho. Chester: Cambridge University Press.

14. Themes
and
Snap-shot Literature Reviewed
Bob Jessop:
The state as an arena of strategic selectivity
“…particular forms of state institutions privilege some
strategies/actors over others and enhances access of
some forces over others. A given type of state, a given
form of regime will be more accessible to some
forces/actors than others given the strategies they
adopt to gain state power”
•Jessop, B. (2008). State Power: A Strategic-Relational
Approach. Cambridge: Polity Press.pp.273.

15. Strategic Selectivity and
the
Two Fold Quest for Power
i. Politics as Art of the State>> Thomas Hobbes
ii.Politics as Art of the Republic>> J.J.
Rousseau &John Locke
• Sullivan, V. B. (2004). Machiavelli, Hobbes,
and the Formation of a Liberal Republicanism
in England. Cape Town : Cambridge University
Press.

16. From Mind to Matter:
Natural Experiments with the Arts of
Politics
Art of the State
Louis XIV
The Axis Powers of the WWII
•Lepage, J.-D. G. (2010). Vauban and the French
Military Under Louis XIV: An Illustrated History of
Fortifications and Strategies. London: McFarland and
Company.
•Volckart, O. Bureau Competition and Economic Policies
in Nazi Germany, 1933-39. Rutledge, London.

17. From Mind to Matter:
Natural Experiments with the Arts of
Politics
Art of the Republic
The French Revolution,
The American War of Independence,
The Bolshevik Revolution
Allied Powers of the WWII
•Frazer, G. (2015). The American Revolution: Not a Just
War. Journal of Military Ethics;14:1., 35-56.
•Marx, K., & Frederick-Engels. (2003). The Communist
Manifesto. London: Bookmarks Publications.

18. African Independence:
Euphoria and Reality Check
African Elites and the Challenge of Post Independence
Instability
Ekeh “Two Publics”
Miler “State to Nation imbalance”
Englebert “State Legitimacy deficits”
• Ekeh, P.P. (1975) “Colonialism and the Two Publics in
Africa: A Theoretical Statement” Comparative Studies in
Society and History, Vol. 17,91-112.
• Miller, B. (2007). States, Nations, and the Great Powers:
The Sources of Regional War and Peace. Sao Paulo:
Cambridge University Press.
• Englebert, P. (2000). State Legitimacy and Development
in Africa. Boulder : Reiner Publishers.

19. African Independence:
Euphoria and Reality Check
Ghanaian Elites and the Challenge of Post Independence
Instability
Inter and Intra Ethnic power struggles
Ethnic power contest with the state
>>>>
Undermined the First, Second, Third Republics
•Chazan, N. (1982). Ethnicity and Politics in Ghana. Political Science
Quarterly , Vol. 97, No. 3, 461-485.
•Frimpong-Ansah, J. A. (1992). The Vampire State in Africa: The
Political Economy of Decline. Trenton: Africa World Press.
•Manu, Y. (1975). Reflections on Nationalism in the Gold Coast [Ghana]
1944-1951. Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, Vol. 8, No. 1.,
117-131.

20. Theoretical framework
Consociational Theory:
Main Tenets
1.Government by Grand Coalition
2.Segmental Autonomy
3.Proportionality in Political Representation
and allocation of Public Resources
4.Right of Mutual Veto
• Lijphart, A. (1977). Democracy in Plural
Societies. New Haven: Yale University Press.

21. Theoretical framework
Democratic Stability
1. Low propensity of macro level civil
disorder.
2. No political groups with revolutionary
objectives/aspirations.
3. External danger.

22. Theoretical framework
Deployment of Theory in
the Ghanaian Context
1. Government by Grand Coalition >> THE COUNCIL OF STATE
[Chapter 9, Article 89(1) of the 1992 Constitution]
2. Mutual Veto and Segmental Autonomy>>INTER-GOVERNMENT
AUTONOMY AND SEPARATION OF POWERS [Article 270 (1)
among others]
3. Proportionality>>THE DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF STATE
POLICY AND THE DISTRICT ASSEMBLY COMMON FUND [Chapter
6 (35b); Article 252 (1)]

23. Methodology: Critical Realism

24. Critical Realism and
the Stratification of Reality
Source: https://www.researchgate.net/figCritical-realist-stratified-ontology-Source-Developed-from-Bhaskar-1978

25. Critical Realism
and
Open Systems Social Research
Open Systems
Import/Export system of social interaction
Fluid/Dynamic/Adrift
Deep structural generators
• Elder-Vass, D. (2004). Re-Examining Bhaskar's Three
Ontological Domains:Lessons from Emergence. IACR
Confrence (pp. 1-15). Cambridge: University of London.
• Bhaskar, R. (1978). A Realist Theory of Science.
Hassocks: Harvester.

26. Method and Some Limitations
Method
•Qualitative
•Primary Data:
21 Elite Interviews based on Chatham House
Rules
•Sampling principle:
Non-probability, purposive strategy, Chain-
referral
•Content analysis of secondary data
•Situation of research:
Meso-level investigation

27. Method and Some Limitations
Some Limitations
1.Meso-level analysis>>loss of insights
from micro and macro levels
2.Subjective biases (incompetence in
positivism)
3.External shock

28. Method of Data Analysis
Stratification of the Ghanaian
Context
Empirical Domain:
Analysis of Elite Responses

29. Method of Data Analysis
Actual Domain: Mapping and Analysis
of
Formal Generative Mechanisms:
 Examination of the 2008 Chieftaincy Act; 2013 Royal
Code of Conduct
Informal Patterns of Inter-elite Interaction:
1. Imperial Structure of Executive branch of government
2. Application of Bayles’s “rules of recognition” &
North’s “limited access order state”
• Bayles, M. D. (2014). Retrieved October 1, 2016, from Law and Politics:
https://www.google.com.gh/search?q=Bayles%2C+M.+D.+(2014).+Retrieved+October+1%2
C+2016%2C+from+Law+and+Politics%3A&rlz=1C1RUCY_
• North, D.C.,Wallis, J.J.,Webb,S.B. & R.B.Weingast (2011) Limited Access Orders:
Rethinking the Problems of Development and Violence
https://web.stanford.edu/group/mcnollgast/cgi-bin/wordpress/wp-
content/uploads/2013/10/Limited_Access_Orders_in_DW_-II_-2011.0125.submission-
version.pdf

30. Method of Data Analysis
Stratification of the Ghanaian Context
Real Domain:
Identification and Path Dependent
Analysis of the Critical Juncture Event
The Avoidance of Discrimination Act of
1957
•Austin, D. (1964). Politics in
Ghana:1946-1960. New York: Oxford
University Press.

31. Method of Data Analysis: Synthesis
of Domains
Critical Juncture-Path Dependent-Process Tracing Framework
and
Congruence Analysis:
Explanatory Claims of the CJ-PD-PT Framework
[CJ] Critical Juncture events >> [PD]Close off competing
options>> self reinforcing mechanisms of reproduction
•Berins, R., & Collier, D. (1991). Shaping the Political Arena:
Critical Junctures, the Labor Movement and Regime Dynamics in Latin
America. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Collier, R. B., & Collier, D. (1991). Shaping the Political Arena:
Critical Junctures, the Labor Movement and Regime Dynamics in Latin
America. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

32. Method of Data Analysis
Critical Juncture-Path Dependent-Process
Tracing Framework
and
Congruence Analysis:
Explanatory Claims of Process Tracing
A method used to map out connecting mechanisms
between events across time and space.
•Mahoney, J. (2012). The Logic of Process
Tracing Tests in the Social Sciences.
Sociological Methods Research; vol. 41 no. 4 ,
570-597.

33. Method of Data Analysis
Critical Juncture-Path Dependent-Process Tracing
Framework
and
Congruence Analysis:
Explanatory Claims of Congruence Analysis
Focuses on drawing inferences to the relevance of
theories from the (non-) congruence of concrete
observations with predictions deduced from these
theories
•Sinkler, A. (2011) Retroduction, Congruence Analysis,
and Causal Inference in Case Study Research at
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=17
95449

34. Finding
Neither
Inter-elite Consensus nor Control
hence
Inconclusive

35. Basis of Inconclusive Finding
Empirical Domain
Clear Inter-elite Consensus and
Accommodation
Actual Domain
Mixed>> Consensus + Control
Real Domain
Critical Juncture Event [Avoidance of Discrimination Act
-ADA]
locked-in mechanisms of state elite hegemonic
consolidation activated by the ADA

36. Discussion of Finding
The Avoidance of Discrimination Act
and
The Politics of Elite Fusion and
Fission
Interdependent Pattern of
Interaction

37. Discussion of Finding
However
The Pattern of Interdependence seems Asymmetric
Power capabilities of State elites in their
interaction with Chiefs>>STRATEGIC
Power Capabilities of Chiefs in their interaction with
state elites>>TACTICAL
•Yarger, H. R. (2006). Strategic Theory for the 21st
Century: The Little Book on Big Strategy. Carlisle:
Strategic Studies Institute.

38. Discussion of Finding
Power capabilities of State elites in their
interaction with Chiefs
STRATEGIC:
Flexible and Dynamic
Types
•Manifest Strategic Power- projected by party
elites in government
•Inert Strategic Power-projected by party
elites out of government

39. Discussion of Finding
Power Capabilities of Chiefs in their
interaction with state elites>>TACTICAL
mostly informal [unstable] alliances
Traditional rulers have limited agency
projected as enhanced negotiating
capability in their interaction with
state elites
Tactical power is limiting because it is
not fungible

40. Recommendations for further research
Alternative Methods
Quantitative
Nested Analysis: Qualitative+ Quantitative
Macro level
National Policy Systems
Land administration project
 Office of the Administrator Stool lands
Micro level
Ethnic group governments
Political party tenure
>>>
Precise Investigation

41. Thank You
All