COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST- POLI 364: PUBLIC POLICY PROCESS IN GHANA

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

UNIVERSITY OF GHANA

POLI 364: PUBLIC POLICY PROCESS IN GHANA

SECOND SEMESTER, 2015/2016

VENUE: E 9

LECTURER: DR ABDULAI KUYINI MOHAMMED

Email: akmohammed@ug.edu.gh

Consultation: Tuesday, 11am – 2 pm

Course Title	Public Policy Process in Ghana
Course Code	POLI 364
Course Description	The course analyzes the approaches to public policy making in Ghana through the examination of the interaction between the context, institutions and actors that are involved in the process. Brought together through cabinet procedures, the roles that different actors play in the policy process in Ghana offer complementary skills and perspectives in the pursuit of good policy. The course first examines the theories of policy making in Africa.  It then compares the policy making process in colonial Ghana with the approach in the period between 1957 and 1992. Next, it highlights the disjunction between the processes and outcomes of policies under the present democratic period and those of the eras before it. It does this by examining the opportunities and challenges of the different epochal environments and the consequences of the power plays between all the individuals, groups and organizations that are involved in the development and implementation of policies. Case studies are used to exemplify and facilitate understanding of the different topics of the course.
Purpose and objectives	Upon completion of the course students should be able to: Explain the conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of policy-making in Africa; Identify the main actors and institutions in the policy making process in Ghana; State the main characteristics of colonial policy making; Account for the differences and similarities between the colonial policy making process and those of post-independence Ghana; Compare and contrast the approach to public policy making from independence up to 1992 to that under the Fourth Republican Constitution period; Enhance understanding of the making of the decisions that affect every Ghanaian; Establish an evaluative framework to assess the effectiveness of already implemented policies in Ghana; Identify the challenges to effective policy development and implementation in Ghana and other Sub-Saharan African countries Develop analytical and practical skills for solving real world public policy problems
Week No.	Date	Lecture Topic	Tutorials	Venue	Assessment
1	Feb. 5,  2016	Theories of public policy process in Africa		Lecture: E 9
2	Feb. 12, 2016	The Public Policy Process	Assess the effects of the indigenous cultural context on policy effectiveness	Lecture: E 9
3	Feb. 19 2016	Policy process in colonial Ghana	Explain the main activities entailed in each of the states of the policy process	Lecture: E 9
4	Feb 26, 2016	Environment of policy making in independent Ghana	Examine the roles of the principal institutions in the policy process in the Gold Coast.	Lecture: E 9
5	March 4, 2016	Ghana’s checked political history and its implications for policy making	Analyze the assertion that the political atmosphere in Ghana is not conducive to effective policy making.	Lecture: E 9
6	March 11, 2016	Public policy making under the new democratic dispensation	Compare the policy making process under Nkrumah’s regime to that under the PNDC rule.	Lecture: E 9	Interim Assessment (30%); 3.30 pm
7	March 18, 2016	Authoritative policy actors under the Fourth republican Constitution of Ghana	Do you agree that the distribution of political and policy making power under the 1992 Constitution is skewed in favour of the executive?	Lecture: E 9
8	April 1, 2016	Non authoritative policy actors under the Fourth Republican Constitution of Ghana	Distinguish the role of the executive from that of the bureaucracy in the policy making process in Ghana	Lecture: E 9
9	April 8, 2016	Ghanaian Policy Instruments	Political parties and interest groups perform the same role in the policy making process. Discuss.	Lecture: E 9 Tutorial:
10	April 15, 2016	Case Studies: GPRS 1 & II, STX-Korea Housing Deal, Pension reforms	Evaluate the effectiveness of any three Ghanaian policy instruments.	Lecture: E 9
11	April 22, 2016	Case studies: Value added Tax, Review of the 1992 Constitution,	To what extent is it true to say that the making of the “STX-Korea Housing Deal’ policy was elitist and exclusionary?	Lecture: E 9
12	April 29, 2016	Case studies: the Senchi Consensus, National Health Insurance Scheme	Examine the roles of the main actors in the review of the 1992 Constitution.	Lecture: E 9
13	May 6, 2015	Case studies: Structural Adjustment Participatory Review Initiative, Guantanamo Bay Detainees	Analyze the processes in the setting of the agenda of the National Health Insurance Scheme.	Lecture: E 9
14		Revision	Revision
15		Revision	Revision
Exam (70%)

Reading List

Anderson, J. E. (2006), Public policy making, 6^th edition, Wadsworth Cenage Learning, Belmont, USA

Lindberg, S. I. and Zhou, Y. (2009), Cooptation despite democratization in Ghana, In J. D. Barkan (ed.), Legislative power in emerging African democracies. Lynne Rienner Publishers, London

Mohammed, A. K. (2013), ‘Civic engagement in public policy making in Ghana: fad or reality?’, Politics and Policy 41 (1): 117-152

Mohammed, A. K. (2015), ‘Ghana’s policy making: from elitism and exclusion to participation and inclusion? International Public Management Review 16 (1): 1-24

Ohemeng, F. L. (2015), ‘Civil society and policy making in developing countries: Assessing the impact of think tanks on policy outcomes in Ghana’, Journal of African and Asian Studies 50 (6): 667-682