The Politics of Reform in Ghana, 1982-1991Economic reform was the most pressing question for African and other Third World countries during the 1980s, and it will continue to dominate their public policy agendas during the coming decade. In this first full-length examination of the political economy of adjustment in Ghana, Jeffrey Herbst describes the causes of Ghana's dramatic economic decline and reviews the politics of reform that began in 1983. Ghana was one of the first African countries to adopt a comprehensive reform program and the one that has sustained adjustment longest. As Africa confronts the possibility of total economic collapse by the turn of the century, the Ghanaian experience will have profound ramifications across the continent in the debates regarding stabilization and structural change. Herbst devotes special attention to the interaction between the type of government and the politics of adjustment, the reaction of interest groups such as urban labor and the peasantry, and the relationship between economic and political change. His extended field research and sophisticated knowledge of the issues involved, both from the economic and political science literature, make this an extremely useful study. It will be important not only to Africanists, political scientists, economists, and sociologists, but also to government and financial leaders wrestling with economic reform in the Third World. |
Contents
Ghana in Economic Crisis | 17 |
Strategy and Tactics | 38 |
Urban Dwellers and Labor under Economic | 58 |
Is There a Rural Constituency for Economic | 76 |
The Economic Frontiers of the African State | 95 |
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able Accra Acheampong actions adjustment program administrative adopted African countries African governments African leaders agriculture analysis argued Ashanti Ashanti region Bank of Ghana Bank's benefits capital cedi cocoa Côte d'Ivoire coup currency Daily Graphic devaluation difficult district assemblies early economic institutions economic policies economic reform program Economy of Ghana efforts elections enterprises especially exchange rate reform export face failure Finance foreign exchange fundamental Ghana Ghanaian experience Ghanaian government given government's growth implement important increase industries instance International International Monetary Fund Interview labor large number legal system ment multilaterals Nkrumah nomic noted in chapter organizations overvalued People's Daily Graphic percent PNDC PNDC's political support poor price controls private sector problems promote Rawlings government role rural areas significant simply social SOEs stabilization strategy structural adjustment Sub-Saharan Africa suggests tion trade University of Ghana University Press urban population Washington workers World Bank