Publication Date
2018
Document Type
Thesis
Committee Members
December Green (Committee Chair); Carlos Costa (Committee Member); Lee Hannah (Committee Member)
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Abstract
What factors influence voting behavior in Ghana? This thesis investigates this question using a survey data conducted in four regions in Ghana. A descriptive analyses and logistic regression of the data show that candidate personality and campaign promises are the most important predictors of vote choice. The study further found that ethnic and economic variables are minor features of voting behavior in Ghana: they do not influence how the majority of the electorate make voting decisions. This finding challenges the conventional view on Ghana’s elections that presume that elections are simply an ethnic census. Additionally, the finding suggests that majority of the Ghanaian people are evaluative voters who make voting decisions upon careful assessment of the competence of contesting candidates and campaign promises. Overall, this study draws attention to the importance of personality and pragmatic policies in winning elections. Accordingly, politicians need to be concerned about the public perception of their credibility and image, as well as the policies they bring to the campaign platform.
Page Count
172
Department or Program
Department of Political Science
Year Degree Awarded
2018
Copyright
Copyright 2018, all rights reserved. My ETD will be available under the "Fair Use" terms of copyright law.
ORCID ID
0000-0002-8429-0054
