The national peace council and democratic Consolidation: An assessment

Abstract

Ghana’s democracy continues to remain an example for several African countries to emulate. After having gone through three turnovers/peaceful transfers of political power from an incumbent to the opposition since the return to democracy in 1992, several minimalists concluded that Ghana’s democracy has consolidated because it passed Huntington’ two-test hypothesis. Moving beyond elections and minimalist views on democratic consolidation, this paper uses the National Peace Council (NPC), as a case study on the democratic consolidation strives of Ghana. The goal of this paper is to unpack the various contribution of the NPC to Ghana’s democratic consolidation. We show how, since the creation of the NPC, Ghana has been able to consolidate its democracy by remaining peaceful before, during and after elections. We also point out some major limitations to the progress of the NPC and proffer some solutions for policy recommendations.