University of Ghana * Department of Political Science* Course Catalogue: 2021

Thursday, 23 September 2021

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

UNIVERSITY OF GHANA

MODULAR SEMESTER FOR LEVEL 300 STUDENTS, 2021

COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST

LECTURER: Professor Ransford Gyampo

COURSE OUTLINE AND READINGS

COURSE TITLE	STRATEGIES FOR AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT
COURSE CODE	POLI 356
COURSE CREDITS	3
COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES	The Course essentially interrogates the various strategies that have been put in place to develop Africa, since independence. It begins with a thorough examination of the challenges facing contemporary sub-Saharan African development and a comprehensive review of leading theoretical explanations of Africa’s developmental challenges. The second part identifies and analyzes the main strategies adopted for overcoming the challenges facing African development. The experiences of Ghana (and other African countries) are analyzed in detail, to illustrate the strengths and gains, weaknesses and challenges associated with the various developmental strategy options undertaken by successive regimes in Africa, including, Import Substitution Industrialization, Structural Adjustment Programmes, NEPAD, Millennium Development Goals, Sustainable Development Goals, Debt Cancellation or HIPC Initiative, The Call for Reparation, Regional Integration and Political Conditionalities (demand for democracy and good governance), etc, By the end of the Course students should be able to state and explain at least five challenges to development that confronted African states at the time of independence in the 1960s; identify and explain at least two theories of under-development; explain which of the theories of under-development best captures the status of African countries and give justification for their choice; explain the strengths and weaknesses, of at least developmental strategies pursued by African countries since independence; and identify the reasons why Africa is still under-developed in spite of all the strategies of development pursued since independence.
OFFICE LOCATION	Department of Political Science, University of Ghana, Room 7
OFFICE HOURS	Mondays: 10am – 4pm
EMAIL	vangyampo@yahoo.com or revgyampo@ug.edu.gh
LECTURE PERIOD & VENUE	Main Campus (Thursdays 5:30pm-7.20pm @JQB12 & Fridays, 11.30am -1.20pm @JQB 23) City Campus (Mondays 4:30pm – 6:20pm @ New Bloc 2, 1C)
MODE OF TEACHING	Face to face in class teaching with ALL COVID PROTOCOLS OBSERVED / Sakai (when necessary)
WEEK NO.	LECTURE TOPIC	TUTORIALS	ASSESSMENT
1	The Socio-Economic Dimensions of the African Development Challenge	Teaching/Graduate Assistants to assist students in defining the socio-economic challenges that confronted Africa soon after independence
2	The Political Dimensions of the African Development Challenge	Teaching/Graduate Assistants to assist students in defining the political and governance challenges that confronted Africa soon after independence
3	Overview of Theoretical Explanations to African Under-Development	Students to identify and discuss the various strategies that can bring about African development
4	The Modernization	Student to discuss the main arguments of the Modernization Theory
5	The Dependency Theories	Student to discuss the main arguments of the Dependency Theory
6	Overview of Strategies for African Development:	Students to discuss other theoretical explanations to African Under-Development with the guidance of Teaching/Graduate Assistants
7	Import Substitution Industrialization	Students to be guided in discussing the main arguments of ISI	Interim Assessment (30%)
8	Structural Adjustment Programme	Students to be guided in discussing the main arguments of SAP
9	Application of Political Conditionalities	Students to be guided in discussing the relationship between Democracy, Good Governance and Development
10	The Legos Plan of Action	Students to examine the main issues raised by the Lagos Plan of Action as a development strategy
11	The New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD)	Students to discuss the new ideas and strategies for development as propounded by NEPAD
12	The HIPC/Debt forgiveness/Reparation	Students to discuss debt forgiveness and reparation as development strategies
13	The MDGs and SDGs	Students to critically examine the MDGs contributions to African development. Students must be guided in discussing the various development policy prescriptions of the SDGs
14	STUDENT REVISION
15-17	EXAMINATION (70%)

COURSE READINGS

Handelman, Howard (2006) The Challenge of Third World Development, Fourth Edition, (New Jersey: Prentice Hall).
Ewusi, K.(ed) (2013) Policies and Options for Ghana’s Economic Development, Third Edition, (Legon: ISSER).
UNDP Human Development Report 2009.
Rimmer, Douglas (1991) Africa: 30 Years On, (London: James Currey)
Sandbrook, Richard (2000) Closing the Cycle: Democratization and Development in Africa (London: Zed Books).
Collier, Paul (2007) The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It, (New York: Oxford University Press).
Kousari, Kamran (2006) “Africa’s Woes- Homegrown or Externally Induced” Europe’s World, (Spring ) pp 157-162.
Easterly, William “ The Utopian Nightmare”, Foreign Policy (September/ October 2005, pp58-64.
Cooper, Frederick (2002) Africa since 1940: The Past of the Present,. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Gyampo, R.E.V. (2015). “Dealing with Ghana’s Winner-Takes-All Politics: A Case for Proportional Representation?” The Journal of Social Sciences Research, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp 41-46.
Gyampo, R.E.V. (2015). “Dealing with Winner-Takes-All Politics in Ghana: The Case for National Development Planning” Governance, Vol. 20, No. 1 (January/February), pp 1-11.
Gyampo, R.E.V. (2016) The State of Political Institutions in Ghana, Revised Edition, Tema: Digibooks Publishing Limited.
Kwakye, J.K. (2013) “The Price of Leadership Failings in Ghana” Legislative Alert, Vol. 20, No. 5 (September/October), pp 1-4.
Roxborough, Ian (1988) Theories of Under Development. (London: Macmillan Education Ltd).
Frank, Andre, Gunder (1972) "The Development of Underdevelopment," in James D. Cockcroft, Andre Gunder Frank, and Dale Johnson, eds., Dependence and Underdevelopment. (New York: Anchor Books).
Lockwood, Mathhew (2005) The State They’re In: An Agenda for International Action on Poverty in Africa, (Warwickshire: International Technology Development Group Ltd).
The Lagos Plan of Action for the Economic Development of Africa, 1980-2000,(1980) (Geneva: ILO).
World Bank,(1981) Accelerated Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Agenda, (Washington, DC: World Bank).
The Africa Commission (2005) “Our Common Future”, Report of the Africa Commission
Rothchild, Donald ed. (1991), Ghana: The Political Economy of Recovery (Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers)
Gyimah-Boadi E. ed.(1993), Ghana Under PNDC Rule, ( Dakar: CODESRIA Book Series).
Leftwich, Andrian (1993) “Governance, Democracy and Development in Third Word”, Third World Quarterly, Vol. 14. No. 3 pp 605-624.
The Millennium Development Goals 2000
The Sustainable Development Goals, 2016
Armah, Bartholomew (2001), “Should Ghana Go HIPC”? IEA Legislative Alert Series, Vol. 1, No. 3 (March) pp 1-15.
Ayittey, George (2005) “NEPAD and Africa’s Leaking Begging Bowl”, IEA Policy Analysis Series Vol. 3 No. 5. (February) pp 1-13

REQUIREMENTS/ GENERAL INFORMATION

· Extensive Reading (at least 70% of the required reading materials) is a MUST

· There would be 6 weeks (but four hours meeting times) of lectures and students must endeavor to attend all lectures. The course shall not be done by correspondence.

· Students must be punctual in attending all lectures. No lateness would be tolerated

· Students MUST attend tutorials regularly and make MEANINGFUL contributions to class discussions.

· An Interim Assessment would be conducted and would constitute 50% of the final grades of students. The final exam would account for 50% of students’ grade.

For information on Grading Scale, students may refer to Undergraduate Handbook for details.

· Students MUST comport themselves during lectures. No acts of indiscipline such as ringing of mobile phones and all other acts that could distract the attention of other students while lectures are on-going would be tolerated

· All assignments and written submissions would be graded taking into consideration the University’s Plagiarism Policy. Students must refer to this Policy and be guided by its contents.

Monday, 21 June 2021

UNIVERSITY OF GHANA

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY (MPHIL) POLITICAL SCIENCE

POLI 608: GOVERNMENT BUDGETING

COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST, SECOND SEMESTER, 2020-2021 LECTURER: PROFESSOR ATSU AYEE

LECTURE TIME: MONDAY, 2 PM – 4 PM

1. Course Objective

The aim of the course is to introduce students to the concept of government budgeting. Specifically, it deals with what a budget is about, the types of budgets (balanced, surplus and deficit), the qualities of a good budget, importance of the budget, the budgetary process, the institutional framework for budgeting in Ghana, the politics of budgeting, the public financial management system. It also examines budget reform strategies, fiscal decentralization and techniques and tools of budgeting such as line-item budgeting, Zero-Based Budgeting, medium

term expenditure framework (MTEF), Activity Based Budgeting (ABB) and Programme Based Budgeting (PBB).

2. Learning Objectives

The learning objectives of the course are at three levels, namely, knowledge, skills and behaviour. 3. Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course, students should be able to do the following:

• Define government budgeting.

• Describe the budget process.

• Appreciate the politics of the budget process.

• Identify the three types of the budget.

• Enumerate Ghana’s public financial management system, its strengths and weaknesses. • Describe the institutional framework for the budget in Ghana

• Describe the strategies for budget reform in Ghana

• Describe the techniques and tools of budgeting.

• Make a prognosis of the future of government budgeting in Ghana.

4. Instructional Methodology

This class will use a seminar/workshop format and will meet for three hours once a week. It will comprise a combination of lectures, discussions, student presentations and term papers.

5. Evaluation

Seminar presentation by student - 25% Term paper of 2,000 words on student’s choice of topic - 25% Written Examination - 50% Total - 100

COURSE OUTLINE AND READINGS

WEEK 1

Nature and scope of government budgeting: definitions, features and importance of the budget

Republic of Ghana, The Budget Operations Manual for Development of the National Budget. Prepared by the Ministry of Finance (Budget Division), n.d.

Kariuki, E. & K. Kiragu, “Public Expenditure Management” in L. Adamolekun (ed.) Public Administration in Africa: Main Issues and Selected Country Studies. 2nd edn. Ibadan: Evans Brothers. Chapter 6.

Rubin, I.S. “New Directions in Public Budgeting”, in D.C. Menzel & H.L. White (eds.) The State of Public Administration: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities. London/New York: M.E. Sharpe, 2011. Chapter 9.

Hilton, R.M. & P.G. Joyce, “Performance Information and Budgeting in Historical and Comparative Perspective”, in B. Guy Peters & Jon Pierre (eds.) The Handbook of Public Administration. London: Sage, 2007. Chapter 20.

Kok, L. “Accrual Budgeting in a Comparative Perspective”, in B. Guy Peters & Jon Pierre (eds.) The Handbook of Public Administration. London: Sage, 2007. Chapter 21.

United Nations, Realizing Human Rights through Government Budgets. New York: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). HR/PUB/17/2017.

Humado, C.K. “Pro-poor Policies and the Budget Process: The Role of Parliament/Parliamentarians – the Ghanaian Experience”, in Parliaments, Poverty and the Budget Process in Africa. Accra: Africa Poverty Reduction and Parliamentarian Centre, 2009.

Caiden, Naomi and Aaron Wildavsky. Planning and Budgeting in Poor Countries. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1974.

WEEK 2

Types of budget: strengths and weaknesses

Ipek, E.A.S. “New Approaches in Public Budgeting”, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.82371

Hou, Y. “Designing and Administering Revenue Systems”, in J.L. Perry & R. Christensen (eds.) Handbook of Public Administration 3edn. San Francisco, CA: Wiley, 2015. Chapter 23.

OECD (2014) OECD principles of budgetary governance,

http://www.oecd.org/governance/budgeting/draft-prin-ciples-budgetary-governance.pdf. (Accessed January 20, 2020)

Republic of Ghana, The Budget Operations Manual for Development of the National Budget. Prepared by the Ministry of Finance (Budget Division), n.d.

Caiden, Naomi and Aaron Wildavsky. Planning and Budgeting in Poor Countries. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1974.

WEEK 3

The budgetary process or cycle: strengths and weaknesses

Republic of Ghana, The Budget Operations Manual for Development of the National Budget. Prepared by the Ministry of Finance (Budget Division), n.d.

Ipek, E.A.S. “New Approaches in Public Budgeting”, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.82371

Caiden, Naomi and Aaron Wildavsky. Planning and Budgeting in Poor Countries. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1974.

WEEK 4

Institutional framework for budgeting in Ghana: issues, strengths and weaknesses

Republic of Ghana, Public Financial Management Act, Act 921, 2016. Accra: GPCL Assembly Press, 2016.

Republic of Ghana, Public Financial Management Regulations, LI2378, 2019. Accra: GPCL Assembly Press.

Republic of Ghana, The Budget Operations Manual for Development of the National Budget. Prepared by the Ministry of Finance (Budget Division), n.d.

Garnet, H & W. Plowden, “Cabinets, Budgets and Poverty: Political Commitment to Poverty Reduction”, in B. Levy & S. Kpundeh (eds.) Building State Capacity in Africa: New Approaches, Emerging Lessons. Washington DC: The World Bank, 2004, Chapter 5.

B. Dorotinksky & R. Floyd, “Public Expenditure Accountability in Africa: Progress, Lessons and Challenges”, in B. Levy & S. Kpundeh (eds.) Building State Capacity in Africa: New Approaches, Emerging Lessons. Washington DC: The World Bank, 2004, Chapter 6.

OECD. OECD principles of budgetary governance,

http://www.oecd.org/governance/budgeting/draft-prin-ciples-budgetary-governance.pdf. (Accessed January 20, 2020).

WEEK 5

Ghana’s public financial management system: issues

Republic of Ghana, Public Financial Management Act, Act 921, 2016. Accra: GPCL Assembly Press, 2016.

Republic of Ghana, Public Financial Management Regulations, LI2378, 2019. Accra: GPCL Assembly Press.

Adamtey, N. (2017) The Road to Budget Transparency in Ghana, https://www.internationalbudget.org/wp-content/uploads/the-road-to-budgettransparency-in ghana-ibp-case-study-2017.pdf (accessed, 20/1/20)

Republic of Ghana, The Budget Operations Manual for Development of the National Budget. Prepared by the Ministry of Finance (Budget Division), n.d.

WEEK 6

Ghana’s public financial management system: strengths and weaknesses

Republic of Ghana, Public Financial Management Act, Act 921, 2016. Accra: GPCL Assembly Press, 2016.

Republic of Ghana, Public Financial Management Regulations, LI2378, 2019. Accra: GPCL Assembly Press.

Adamtey, N. (2017) The Road to Budget Transparency in Ghana, https://www.internationalbudget.org/wp-content/uploads/the-road-to-budgettransparency-in ghana-ibp-case-study-2017.pdf (accessed, 20/1/20)

Republic of Ghana, The Budget Operations Manual for Development of the National Budget. Prepared by the Ministry of Finance (Budget Division), n.d.

WEEK 7

Strategies for budget reform in Ghana

Republic of Ghana, The Budget Operations Manual for Development of the National Budget. Prepared by the Ministry of Finance (Budget Division), n.d.

Schick, A. “Twenty Five Years of Budgeting Reform”, OECD Journal of Budgeting, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2004, pp. 81-102.

OECD, Managing Public Expenditure: A Reference Book for Transition Societies. Paris: OECD, 2001.

WEEK 8

Fiscal decentralization in Ghana: issues, strengths and weaknesses

Institute for Fiscal Studies, “Fiscal Decentralization in Ghana: Progress and Challenges”. Prepared by the staff team of the IFS, led by Edna Osei (Research Analyst) June 2017. Discussion Paper No. 10, 2017.

Amoako-Asiedu, E. & K.A. Domfeh, “The Challenges of Central Government Fiscal and Financial Policies on Local Government Programmes in Ghana”. International Journal of African and Asian Studies, Vol. 26, 2016, pp. 32-40.

Dafflon, B & T. Madies (eds.) The Political Economy of Decentralization in Sub Saharan Africa. Washington DC: World Bank, 2013.

WEEK 9

Techniques and tools of budgeting: line item and zero-based budgeting

Republic of Ghana, The Budget Operations Manual for Development of the National Budget. Prepared by the Ministry of Finance (Budget Division), n.d.

Ipek, E.A.S. “New Approaches in Public Budgeting”, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.82371

Wildavsky, A. “A budget for all seasons? Why the traditional budget lasts,” Public Administration Review 38 (6), 1978: 501–509.

WEEK 10

Techniques and tools of budgeting in Ghana: activity-based budgeting versus programme based budgeting

Republic of Ghana, The Budget Operations Manual for Development of the National Budget. Prepared by the Ministry of Finance (Budget Division), n.d.

Ho, A.T-K., “Performance Budgeting”, in J.L. Perry & R. Christensen (eds.) Handbook of Public Administration 3edn. San Francisco, CA: Wiley, 2015. Chapter 22.

Schick, A. “The metamorphoses of performance budgeting,” OECD Journal of Budgeting, 13(2), 2013.

Wildavsky, A. “A budget for all seasons? Why the traditional budget lasts,” Public Administration Review 38 (6), 1978: 501–509.

WEEK 11

The politics of budgeting in Ghana

Killick, T. “The politics of Ghana’s budgetary system”, CDD/ODI Policy Brief No. 2, November 2005.

Republic of Ghana, The Budget Operations Manual for Development of the National Budget. Prepared by the Ministry of Finance (Budget Division), n.d.

Johnson, M. “Understanding the Real Budget Process: The Case of Ghana”, IFFRI Discussion Note # 029.

Wildavsky, A. The New Politics of the Budgetary Process. 2d ed. New York: Harper Collins, 1992.

WEEK 12

The political business cycle in Ghana

Iddrisu, A. G. & G.A. Bokpin, “Political business cycles and economic growth in Africa”, Journal of Economic Studies, Vol. 45 No. 4, 2018 pp. 760-772.

Kwankye, J.K. “Budget Discipline should be Entrenched in Ghana as a Policy Priority”, Legislative Alert, Vol. 21, No.1, August, 2014.

Republic of Ghana, The Budget Operations Manual for Development of the National Budget. Prepared by the Ministry of Finance (Budget Division), n.d.

WEEK 13

The future of government budgeting in Ghana

Killick, T. “The politics of Ghana’s budgetary system”, CDD/ODI Policy Brief No. 2, November 2005.

Republic of Ghana, The Budget Operations Manual for Development of the National Budget. Prepared by the Ministry of Finance (Budget Division), n.d.

Ipek, E.A.S. “New Approaches in Public Budgeting”, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.82371

SEMINAR TOPICS

1. What is government budgeting? What are its features, strengths and weaknesses? 2. Why is budgeting political?

3. Examine the major types of budget.

4. Discuss the budgetary cycle in Ghana. Illustrate your answer with examples. 5. Examine the major reforms implemented over the years to improve budgeting in Ghana.

6. How effective is Ghana’s public financial management system? Give examples to illustrate your points.

7. Compare and contrast line item budgeting and zero-based budgeting.

8. Compare and contract activity based budgeting and programme based budgeting.

9. Comment on the view that fiscal decentralization remains the Achilles heel of decentralization in Ghana.

10. How can the political business cycle be improved in Ghana?

11. Assuming you have been appointed the Minister of Finance of Ghana, examine some of the reforms you will introduce in the country’s budget statement.

12. What do you think is the future of government budgeting in Ghana?