Party Politics In Africa Essay, Research Paper

Political parties are a group of people with a defined programme organised to capture political power or stay in it through elections to control personnel and policies of government. This form of government was introduced to africa in general and ghana in particular by the colonial imperialists and it?s a form of western ideology which was not known to the ghanaian society until the advent of colonialism and it?s aftermath.

Although political parties play important roles and affairs of the modern political affairs of ghana like recruiting of political leadership, aggregation of interests, goal formation, socialization and political education, articulation of ideas and intergrate of norms in the society to mention but a few but then they posed serious problems to our society because they are alien and a legacy bequeated to ghanaian politics by colonialism.

This was because colonialism was itself an arbitrary and therefore the idea of oneness towards state building itself will be arbitrary since ghana was composed of several ethnic groups and cultures. Colonialism didn?t bridge the gaps between the ethnic groups to enhance our use of political party system to govern the people like the western imperialists. For example the united states has long provided a bridge to bring together it?s people and that?s the reason for their survival with this party political system. These political party system pose problems to Ghana because there is the lack of tradition in the practise of party politics Since it was never part of our traditional political system we lack the political culture, norms, tradition, experience for the working of an effective party system. Party in power is usually intolerant to oppostion groups and will not even listen to any form of constructive criticism. The opposition is seen as nothing short of an enemy. The opposition group on the other hand resort to conspirational practices to dislodge the party in power. Such unecessary rivary and opposition result in instability and freguent changes in government. Parties provide

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