Ghanaian views on authoritarian alternatives to democracy

Last Wednesday (April 23rd), the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) held a regional dissemination event to share with Ghanaians results from the 2024 Afrobarometer survey. 

One of the findings that has gained media attention is how Ghanaians responded to this question - Which of the following statements is closest to your view? (Choose Statement 1 or Statement 2). Statement 1: Armed forces should never intervene in the country’s political process; Statement 2: It is legitimate for the armed forces to take control of government when elected leaders abuse power for their own ends.

In response, 51 per cent supported Statement 2 (intervene when power is abused) compared to 47 per cent who supported Statement 1 (never intervene).

The worrying signal is the change between when the question was first asked (Round 9, 2022) and the most recent survey (Round 10, 2024).

Between the two rounds, the percentage of Ghanaians in support of Statement 2 increased (+11) while those in support of Statement 1 decreased (-8). 

The media, and rightly so, have reported widely on this worrying signal.

It is understandable given the current context of democratic vulnerabilities in West Africa.

It is, however, important to throw further light on Ghanaian views on authoritarian alternatives to democracy.

The critical point to note is this – the Ghanaian position on authoritarian alternatives to democracy is more nuanced and this finding must not be construed as citizen’s calling for military rule. 

What else did this 51% say?

The interest in this finding has been focused on the 51 per cent who support military intervention if power is abused.

Let me therefore explore what this group said about military intervention and authoritarian alternatives to democracy. 

First, the survey also asked Ghanaians this – “If the military were ever to intervene in government, which of the following three statements is closest to your opinion?”

Among this group, 27 per cent said “restore civilian rule as soon as possible” with another 51 per cent saying “gradual transition back to civilian rule.” 

Notice that whether immediate or gradual, this group prefers civilian rule and the support for military intervention is both conditional and temporal. 

Second, it is also important to note that this group is not against democracy.

In fact, seven out of 10 (68 per cent) said in the same survey “democracy is preferable to any other form of government.”

Third, part of their support for the idea of a conditional support for military intervention is reflective of their current feelings about the state of democracy in Ghana.

Only 45 per cent express being “fairly satisfied/very satisfied” with the way democracy is working in Ghana.

Also, 37 per cent described Ghana as a “democracy with major problems” with another 35 per cent describing the country as a “democracy with minor problems.”

The point is this – the 51 per cent driving concerns about this worrying signal do not have strong levels of satisfaction with democracy and do believe the country’s democratic architecture has problems.

But they still prefer democracy to any other form of government. 

How do Ghanaians feel about authoritarian governments?

What about Ghanaians in general?

Are there signals that they are growing in their acceptance of authoritarian alternatives to democracy?

The answer is a categorical no.

In the survey, 85 per cent disapproved of “only one political party being allowed to stand for election and hold office”; 87 per cent disapproved of “elections and Parliament being abolished so that the President can decide everything”; and 62 per cent disapproved of “the army coming in to govern the country.”

While the disapproval of military rule is not as high as that of one man or one-party, it is also not at a level that is extremely worrying for now.

On the question of what should happen if the military intervenes, 38 per cent support restoring civilian rule “as soon as possible” while 41 per cent support “gradual restoration” of civilian rule.

So again, we see that whether gradual or immediate, eight out of 10 Ghanaians (79 per cent) still prefer a return to civilian rule in the event of military intervention.

Is Ghana’s democracy in trouble?

First, 73 per cent of Ghanaians say, “democracy is preferable to any other form of government.”

Second, 83 per cent say “we should choose our leaders in this country through regular, open and honest elections.”

Third, 69 per cent say “many political parties are needed to make sure that Ghanaians have real choices in who governs them.” Essentially, Ghanaians prefer democracy and support the core elements of democracy such as elections and multipartyism. 

When asked about the extent of democracy in Ghana, a combined 70 per cent describe the country as a “democracy with major/minor problems.”

A comprehensive review of the results reveals areas of our democracy that need immediate attention – trust in institutions, growing perceptions of institutional corruption, significant drop in the level of satisfaction with the way democracy is working, and dissatisfaction with how well our democracy is handling various socio-economic issues.

The writer is the Project Director, Democracy Project