Community, Civic Engagement and Democratic Governance in Africa: The Case of Ghana

Description

This book explores how community influences civic engagement, focusing on the case of Ghana. It offers an interdisciplinary perspective to those studying psychology, political development and civic engagement in African countries. Previous research has shown that the social and economic context in which an individual interacts influences their political behaviors and attitudes, and that personal characteristics account for differences in political behavior and attitudes. This work moves away from the cultural demographics of a person, which often take center stage in existing investigations of partisan political behavior in the African context, and addresses the following five questions: (1) To what extent do individual traits influence civic engagement in Ghana? (2) To what extent is community identity similar or different in small rural villages versus large metropolitan areas in Ghana and how does community identity influence civic engagement? (3) To what extent does trust influence civic engagement in Ghana? (4) What factors and activities influence political knowledge and how does political knowledge influence civic engagement? (5) What is the status of women in civic engagement? Acknowledgments Contents About the Authors List of Figures List of Tables 1 Introduction Outline of the Book References 2 Literature on Civic Engagement Demographics Sense of Community Trust Political Knowledge Personality Women Summary References 3 Measuring Civic Engagement The Ghanaian Case Urban Accra and Rural North Measuring Civic Engagement References 4 Demographics Overall Demographic Characteristics Demographic Characteristics by Region Demographic-Civic Participation Relationship References 5 Sense of Community Analysis Conclusion Appendix A: Sense of Community Index (SCI) Appendix B: Descriptive Statistics of Variables in Models References 6 Trust Measuring Approval Analysis Conclusions References 7 Political Knowledge Analysis What Ghanaians Know? What Influences Political Knowledge Scores? How Does Political Knowledge Impact Civic Engagement? Conclusions References 8 Personality Research Design and Analysis Dependent Variables Conclusion References 9 Women Gender and Participation Complicating the Relationship Between Gender and Civic Engagement Conclusions References 10 Community Engagement, Civic Education, and Democratic Governance Voices from Within Effective Participation in the Political Process Civic Education and Society A Positive Relationship Between National, Regional, and District Offices Toward Meeting Goals Conclusion Appendix 10A Reference References Index