The Function of Political Culture in a New Democracy: A Comparison of the United States and Ghana's Elections

THE FUNCTION OF POLITICAL CULTURE IN A NEW DEMOCRACY A COMPARISON OF
THE UNITED STATES AND GHANA’S ELECTIONS.
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INTRODUCTION
This research paper looks at function of political culture in a new democratic era and will deeply
explore on the state of general elections between the United States and Ghana found in West Africa.
Elections and the immediate political contestations are distinctive in every country and these are
complex especially in developing and less developed countries2. United States and Ghana has unique
differences and similarities regarding their system of democracy and how elections/political
competitions are addressed. Due to the fact that Ghana is a developing country, its mode/system of
conducting general election is far behind than that of the United States. Literature review has
described this in terms of communication, transparency and voter education. This research study will
explore much on showing how the two countries conduct their elections as an aspect of
democratization1
(a) How does the system of conducting general elections in the United States differ from
that of Ghana?
The system of conducting elections in Ghana is far much different from that the United States. This is
due to the fact that Ghana is a developing nation and therefor even its democratic system is still
maturing. Factors like inexperience in modern systems of handling elections make the two countries
different in their democracy
Power transition; there is a significant difference in the way power is transit from one regime to
another or from one president to another. Since the independence of the United States in 1776,
transition of power from one president to another has been through a peaceful general election as
opposed to Ghana where its political history is full of military toppling and biased election activities
and rigging of the general elections4. Most African countries and Ghana in particular have had over
two military coups detach in which the ruling presidents are thrown out of power by means of
ammunitions. Even though there has been a considerable effort being taken to achieve democracy,
there are have been persistent election unfairness and irregularities. Such scenarios significantly

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indicate the variance in the level of democracy as compared to that of the united states of America
which has had a consistent transfer of power as elected by the people. From the definition of
democracy, a country is only referred to as democratic when the representatives in power are by the
will of people, that is to say, the leader(s) are solely elected by the people3.
Democratization in elections can be measured by looking at voter turnover between the two countries.
Comparing the Ghanaian elections of 2008 and that of the United States in 2000, there was low voter
turnover in the Ghanaian general election as compared to the United States’ general elections. This
indicates that the level of democracy in the two countries typically different5.
A democratic state has got to involve its populace in the political and electoral participation. This can
be done by allowing active participation of political parties in the general elections to allow
presentation of popular wishes and deciding how their country should be governed5. However, this
aspect of ideology between the two countries in different. It’s highly practiced in the United States
than in Ghana. The best description of the Ghanaian general election is that, its highly affected by
voter bribery, low voter turnover, low voter transportation and education. Hence rendering the
democracy in the two countries totally different.
According to Berg Anderson 2001, the participation of the people in elections is pivotal to the growth
of democracy of any nation6
Hypothesis on the state of democracy and electoral system between United States and
Ghana.
Basing on the literature review, research shows how the level of democratization between the two
countries differ by looking at how they handle political competition during general elections. Taking a
critical overview of the two countries, it is highly believed that the reason why democracy in the two
countries is so much at a gap, is due to differences in their level of technology, voter education voter
turnover, transportation among the two countries which makes their level of democracy differ. As
much as all the aspects of democracy are present in the two countries, Ghana’s level of democracy is
still maturing due to its failure in implementing and advancing the democratic principles. The United