A Critique of Democracy and Development in Ghana: Any Symbiotic Relationship?

Abstract

Ghana since independence has enjoyed some level of democracy but had seen stability in its democratic dispensation from the Fourth Republic (1992 – present) where there has been a smooth transition from one democratic elected government to the other. The return to democracy was premised on the fact that the country will be inundated with development. The paper is guided by the qualitative paradigm using exclusively reports of the Ghana Statistical Survey on poverty 6 (2005 – 2013) and the Ghana health and demographic survey reports (2014) to analyse the relationship between democracy and development in the context of Ghana. The article argues that democracy over the period has not tremendously improved development in Ghana but however has shown a slow and gradual process as indicated in the various variables as contained in the reports used. The article therefore makes a case for strict adherence to the principles of democracy and good governance so as to deliver socio economic goods to the citizenry.