Tuesday 2 February 2016

COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST - POLI 634: THE FOREIGN POLICY OF GHANA



                                DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE                                                   
                                                   UNIVERSITY OF GHANA
                                    SECOND SEMESTER, 2015/2016 ACADEMIC YEAR
                                                                   Instructor:  Dr Iddi Ziblim
                                                              Email: Ziddi48@hotmail.com

Course Title
The Foreign Policy of Ghana
Course Code
POLI 634
Purpose and Objectives
Course Description and Objectives:
This course is designed to provide a graduate level overview of the development and current realities of Ghana’s foreign policy.  It seeks to i) examine the internal and external attributes of Ghana’s foreign policy environment, ii) discuss the policy tools and instruments of foreign policy formulation in Ghana, iii) explore the substance, dynamics, and nuances of foreign policy under various governments, and iv) critically analyze the phenomenon of continuity and change, as well as trends and prospects in Ghana’s foreign policy implementation.  Through academic and popular readings, we will discuss the global dimensions of foreign policy decisions and the domestic forces that sometimes influence foreign policymaking in Ghana.  The course begins with a look at the various attributes of Ghana’s foreign policy.  We then proceed to review the contending theoretical perspectives and analytical overviews of what constitutes Ghana’s ‘National Interest’.  Attention then switches to a discussion of the social structure, social forces and the foreign policy public in Ghana.  Through a review of the major foreign policy decisions of leaders since Independence, the class will discuss issues of continuity and change in Ghana’s foreign policy.       
Course Expectations:
The primary goal of offering this course is the intellectual development of your knowledge and analytical ability in the realm of Ghana’s external relations.  Students are expected to have a general knowledge of world affairs, theories of international relations, considerable reading comprehension skills and analytical skills.  The course has a lecture- discussion format.  That is, introductory lectures will outline the central issues to be addressed in the various weeks; these lectures will be followed by informed discussions. Students will be required to write a term paper of about 9-12 pages (typed on A4 paper, doubled spaced).  This paper is due on Oct. 15, 2015.  The term paper is in lieu of Mid-Term exams, and it will be worth 30% of the final grade.  Students will be penalized for late submission of the term papers. 
A Power Point presentation would be adopted in the lectures.  Students will be required to write a final examination paper based on the topics covered during the semester.   

Grading System:
            Interim Assessment (IA) — 30%
            Class Debate ─ 10%
            Final Exam — 60%
            Total Mark/Grade — 100%
Final Exam Format:
            Five (5) essay questions and you answer three (3).
Students should note that academic dishonesty will not be tolerated in this class.  (See University Handbook for penalties).
Week No.
Date
Lecture Course
Tutorials
Venue
Assessment
1
3rd February, 2016
Course Overview
  1. Administrative elements of the course/Course structure

Office Room

2
10th February, 2016
Ghana’s National Interest: Understanding the Driving Force of Ghana’s Foreign Policy
                               

Office Room


3
17th February, 2016
Attributes of Ghana’s Foreign Policy

Office Room

4
24TH February, 2016
Major Actors in Ghana’s Foreign Policy Formulation

Office Room

5
2nd March, 2016
Setting the Agenda for Ghana’s Foreign Policy: The Nkrumah Years

Office Room

6
9th March, 2016
 Ghana at the Center of Continental Unity

Office Room

7
16th March, 2016
Class Scenario (Debate): That the admission of two GITMO detainees into the country is in accordance with Ghana’s foreign policy objective.

Office  Room

8
23rd March,  2016

Mid-Term Exams

Office Room
Interim Assessment (30%)
9
30th March, 2016
Co-opted Economic Diplomacy

Office Room


10
6th April, 2016


Realpolitik or National Illusion: The Policy of Debt Repudiation 


Office Room



11
13th April, 2016
Statecraft under Rawlings

Office Room

12
20th April,  2016

Economic Diplomacy and Good Neighborliness under the NPP.


Office Room

13
27th April, 2016
Course Review and Evaluation
Revision
Office Room

MAY
Revision and Exams
                                                      


READINGS

Arhin, Kwame, The Life and Work of Nkrumah, (Accra: Sedco, 1991).

Armah, Kwesi, Peace without Power: Ghana’s Foreign Policy, 1957-66, (Accra: Ghana University Press, 2005).
Asamoah, Obed, The Political History of Ghana (1950-2013): The experience of a non-conformist, London, UK: AuthorHouse Publishers, 2014.
Asante, K. B., Foreign Policy Making in Ghana: Options for the 21st Century, (Accra: Friedrich Ebert Foundation, 1997).
Asante, S. K. B., Setting Straight the Record of Ghana’s Recent Political Past, (Tema, Ghana: Digibooks Ghana Ltd., 2011).
Baffour Agyeman-Duah & C. K. Daddieh, “Ghana” in Timothy Shaw & J. E. Okolo ed.    The Political Economy of African Foreign Policy in “ECOWAS” New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press. 1994.
Boafo-Arthur, Kwame,  “Regime Change and Foreign Policy Orientation in Ghanaian Politics: The Post-Nkrumah Years in Perspective”,  Inaugural Lecture, University of Ghana, 2008.
Boafo-Arthur, Kwame, “Trends in Ghana’s Foreign Policy” in Hansen and Ninsin eds. The State, Development and Politics in Ghana.
Boafo-Arthur, Kwame, “Ghana’s External since 31st December 1981” in Gyimah-Boadi ed. Ghana Under PNDC Rule.
Busia, K. A., “Ghana’s Policy for Foreign Affairs”, in Akyeampong, H. K., Ghana’s Struggle for Democracy and Freedom, Accra, Ghana: Ghana Publishing Corporation, 1979.
Danso-boafo, Kwaku, JJ Rawlings and the Democratic Transition in Ghana, Accra, GH: Ghana Universities Press, 2014.
Plischke, Elmer, Foreign Relations: Analysis of its anatomy, Wesport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1988.
Roland Libby, “External Co-optation of a Less Developed Country’s Policy Making: The Case of Ghana, 1969-1972”, World Politics, 1976.
Rooney, David, Kwame Nkrumah: Vision and Tragedy, (Accra: sub-Saharan Publishers, 1988).
Thompson, W. Scott, Ghana’s Foreign Policy: 1957-1966, (Princeton, U.S: Princeton University
Press, 1969). 
Tieku, Thomas K. and Isaac Odoom, “Re-orienting Ghana’s Foreign Policy Crowd” in Ohemeng, Frank L. K. The Public Policy Making Process in Ghana: how politicians and civil servants deal with public problems, Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2012.
Interviews and Speeches of General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong

1992 Constitution, Republic of Ghana.

    

 
    
                   

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