THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE – INSIGHTS FROM THE AFROBAROMETER SURVEY

Untitled THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE – INSIGHTS FROM THE AFROBAROMETER SURVEY One of the exciting things about multiparty democracies is the formation of political parties and the important role they come to play in such spaces. [...] One of the key steps during Ghana’s transition to the 4th Republic was the lifting of the ban on political parties and their activities. [...] With the benefit of data from the Afrobarometer Survey, including the recently released full summary of round nine, I examine how Ghanaians feel about political parties. [...] TRUST IN POLITICAL PARTIES Table 2 – Percentage of Ghanaians who say they trust political parties “a lot” Trust the ruling party Trust opposition political parties 2002 35% 23% 2005 41% 26% 2008 42% 22% 2012 22% 22% 2014 18% 22% 2017 33% 13% 2019 24% 12% 2022 9% 7% Generally, Ghanaians have very low levels of trust in political parties per the findings from the survey. [...] With the NDC-NPP hold on the political system very strong, I wonder if the demand for more political parties will materialize to the point where a third force will emerge as a strong viable alternative to the duopoly.