JSPES, Vol. 44, No. 3-4 (Fall-Winter 2019)
pp. 231-252

Political Party Financing and Internal Democracy: Evidence From Party Card Holding Members Under Ghana’s Fourth Republic   

Kingsley S. Agomor
Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, Accra, Ghana

If a country’s political parties lack internal democracy it would be impossible to use them to promote a democratic state. This study therefore emphasizes that a strong internal party democracy is the pillar of national democratic politics. This study examines how the dependence of four political parties (NDC, NPP, CPP, and PNC) on some wealthy members of society for funding affects their capacity to achieve internal democracy. The study obtained data from card holding members of the four active political parties under the Fourth Republic. The study found that plutocratic financing by a few wealthy members of the society is the dominant source of financing for political parties under the Fourth Republic. Plutocratic financing undermines inclusive participation of all card-holding party members in the internal democratic politics of political parties. Party members do not usually enjoy the political equality that democracy has promised the citizens. Ownership and the institutionalization of multi-party democracy is likely to derail democratic development in Ghana’s Fourth Republic.