Incumbency Factor in Determining Electoral Outcomes in Africa

Multiparty Democracy has come to stay in Africa. The recent upheavals in Egypt, Lybia, Syria and other North Africa countries are testimonies to the fact peoples sentiments cannot be suppressed forever. Pent up feelings would eventually burst into political turmoil and civil disobedience. It is often said that the worst form of democracy is more beneficial than the best despotic and totalitarian regimes. The experiences of the late Eyadema, Mobutu Seseseko, Muamar Al Ghadaffi, Mubarak attest to the dictum that the voice of the people is the voice of God.Basically, the aims and objectives of the study are to determine what accounted for the defeat of the opposition parties. The factor of incumbency was the main hypothesis tested. Recommendations and suggestions are made in this essay as to how a smooth transition to democracy can be ensured in Ghana in particular and African in general. Questionnaire was administered. Sample Random Sampling and face to face inter-personal interviews were also of tremendous help in the collection of the data for this research work.

Autorentext

Francis Owusu-Ansah was born in 1964. He completed a degree in Political Science at the University of Ghana in 1994. He works with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development. He has four Post-Graduate degrees from GIMPA and four publications to his credit. He is currently pursuing an M.A. in Democracy, Governance, Law & Development