Decentralization and Constitutionalism in Africa

Decentralization and Constitutionalism in Africa

Author: Charles M. Fombad

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2019-09-10

Total Pages: 673

ISBN-13: 0192585037

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This collection of essays assesses the efforts of African governments to constitutionalise decentralisation, be it in the form of federalism, local government or traditional authorities. Since the end of the Cold War jurisdictions across Africa have witnessed an ostensible return to multi-party democracy within the paradigm of constitutionalism and the rule of law. Linked to the democratisation process, many countries took steps to decentralize power by departing from the heavily centralized systems inherited from colonial regimes. The centralization of power, typically characterized by the personalization and concentration of power in the hands of leaders and privileged elites in capital cities, mostly resulted in repressive regimes and fragile states. As decentralisation is a response to these challenges, this volume analyses the dynamic relationship between the efforts to implement decentralization and presence or absence of constitutionalism. This volume examines a variety of forms and degrees of decentralization found across Africa. It advances a new understanding of trends and patterns and facilitates the exchange of ideas among African governments and scholars about the critical role that decentralisation may play in democratization of and constitutionalism in Africa.


Law and Social Change in Ghana

Law and Social Change in Ghana

Author: William Burnett Harvey

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2015-12-08

Total Pages: 467

ISBN-13: 1400875587

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While Professor of Law and Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Ghana from 1962 to 1964, the author personally observed the evolving legal order in Ghana during a crucial period in that country's development. Here, he considers statutes and judicial decisions. Working from the premise that law is a value-neutral technique of social ordering and derives its value content from a dominant elite, Professor Harvey places the important Ghanaian constitutional and legal developments in their social context. He concludes that although democratic values have dominated the basic structure of public power, autocratic values have determined the realities of political life in Ghana. Originally published in 1966. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.


Constitutional Arrangements of the Republic of Ghana and Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1844 -1992

Constitutional Arrangements of the Republic of Ghana and Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1844 -1992

Author: Alison Kwame Deima-Nyaho

Publisher: Partridge Publishing Singapore

Published: 2021-12-15

Total Pages: 125

ISBN-13: 1543767761

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The Constitution of the Republic of Ghana (1992) in particular is a landmark constitution in the sense that it purports to provide for all situations that human experience could call to mind. It also endeavours to provide for possible situations that can be anticipated. This is quite understandable because life in this age is so complex that reliance on only scientific knowledge and method or what can be proved alone is not enough. The late Twentieth century world was overwhelmed with a shocking fact that human beings were detonating themselves in the Middle East in what has come to be commonly known as Suicide Bombing. Nigeria is a federation while Ghana is a unitary republic. Both however derive their common experiences in governance from Britain as well as empirical occurrences. It is in this context that all can view these constitutional provisions as well as their backgrounds. Readers are implored to look at the issues discussed in this work without prejudices. My paramount aim is to set the records straight and not to denigrate; I also aim at creating awareness so that no tyrannical dictator should get an opportunity to rise up again in Ghana any day. It has to be admitted that there is something nasty about the human species: The tendency to be absolutely domineering to the exclusion and the consideration of other people’s views or interests, a situation, which should not be allowed to manifest in persons trusted with top leadership positions in governance. That is what successive constitutional arrangements in Ghana and Nigeria, especially in the former, have sought to achieve.


Ghana

Ghana

Author: Kwame Boafo-Arthur

Publisher: Zed Books

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 9781842778296

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Constitutional Arrangements of the Republic of Ghana and the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Constitutional Arrangements of the Republic of Ghana and the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Author: Alison Kwame Deima-Nyaho

Publisher: Partridge Africa

Published: 2020-01-16

Total Pages: 100

ISBN-13: 1482878755

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The Constitution of the Republic of Ghana (1992) in particular is a landmark constitution in the sense that it purports to provide for all situations that human experience could call to mind. It also endeavours to provide for possible situations that can be anticipated. This is quite understandable because life in this age is so complex that reliance on only scientific knowledge and method or what can be proved alone is not enough. The late Twentieth century world was overwhelmed with a shocking fact that human beings were detonating themselves in the Middle East in what has come to be commonly known as Suicide Bombing. Nigeria is a federation while Ghana is a unitary republic. Both however derive their common experiences in governance from Britain as well as empirical occurrences. It is in this context that all can view these constitutional provisions as well as their backgrounds. Readers are implored to look at the issues discussed in this work without prejudices. My paramount aim is to set the records straight and not to denigrate; I also aim at creating awareness so that no tyrannical dictator should get an opportunity to rise up again in Ghana any day. It has to be admitted that there is something nasty about the human species: The tendency to be absolutely domineering to the exclusion and the consideration of other people’s views or interests, a situation, which should not be allowed to manifest in persons trusted with top leadership positions in governance. That is what successive constitutional arrangements in Ghana and Nigeria, especially in the former, have sought to achieve.


Issues in Ghana's Electoral Politics

Issues in Ghana's Electoral Politics

Author: Ninsin, Kwame A.

Publisher: CODESRIA

Published: 2017-05-05

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 2869786948

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Ghana attained independence in 1957. From 1992, when a new constitution came into force and established a new – democratic – framework for governing the country, elections have been organized every four years to choose the governing elites. The essays in this volume are about those elections because elections give meaning to the role of citizens in democratic governance. The chapters depart from the study of formal structures by which the electorate choose their representatives. They evaluate the institutional forms that representation take in the Ghanaian context, and study elections outside the specific institutional forms that according to democratic theory are necessary for arriving at the nature of the relationships that are formed between the voters and their representatives and the nature and quality of their contribution to the democratic process.


A Constitution of the People and How to Achieve It

A Constitution of the People and How to Achieve It

Author: Aarif Abraham

Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand

Published: 2021-04-30

Total Pages: 382

ISBN-13: 3838215168

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Britain does not have a written constitution. It has rather, over centuries, developed a set of miscellaneous conventions, rules, and norms that govern political behavior. By contrast, Bosnia’s constitution was written, quite literally, overnight in a military hanger in Dayton, USA, to conclude a devastating war. By most standards it does not work and is seen to have merely frozen a conflict and all development with it. What might these seemingly unrelated countries be able to teach each other? Britain, racked by recent crises from Brexit to national separatism, may be able to avert long-term political conflict by understanding the pitfalls of writing rigid constitutional rules without popular participation or the cultivation of good political culture. Bosnia, in turn, may be able to thaw its frozen conflict by subjecting parts of its written constitution to amendment, with civic involvement, on a fixed and regular basis; a ’revolving constitution’ to replicate some of that flexibility inherent in the British system. A book not just about Bosnia and Britain; a standard may be set for other plural, multi-ethnic polities to follow.