Civil-Military Relations in Ghana: 1993 -2017

Abstract

Civil-military relations in Ghana has followed a checkered pattern since independence. Efforts to establish a workable civil-military relations in the first three republics failed to work. It is only in the Fourth Republic that, the military seem to demonstrate commitment to the constitutional order (Diamond, 2005). It is, therefore, important to establish that the military now take their subordination to civilian leaders as appropriate and that democratic norms are forming among the military. The study used qualitative research design to examine these issues. The findings show that democratic norms are forming among the military which does acknowledge that democratically elected leaders must rule. There is, moreover, institutional learning by the Ghanaian military about the not very impressive role in politics. This and other elements like a functioning democracy, the Rawlings factor, and the ability of elections to mediate the main conflict in the Ghanaian society in the Fourth Republic are to explain the current civil-military relations in Ghana.

Keywords: civil-military relations, Ghana, fourth republic, institutional learning, democratic deepening

DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/9-14-13

Publication date:July 31^st 2019