The political economy of party primaries in Ghana: The cost and impact of all-pay vote-buying auctions on parliamentary candidate selection primaries

Kutando, Ouborr Kinyortalin (2023). The political economy of party primaries in Ghana: The cost and impact of all-pay vote-buying auctions on parliamentary candidate selection primaries. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

Ghana’s democracy is dominated by two political parties—the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC). Like most parties in emerging democracies, these parties are continuously striving to improve their internal democracy by adopting primaries to select candidates to contest general elections. These primaries are important in consolidating Ghana’s democratic gains, but at the same time, they are understudied.

There are a few studies on the quality of candidates selected by party primaries and their significance for general election outcomes. However, analysis of the selectorates who form the foundation upon which intra-party democracy is built, candidate motivations, the role primary contests play in gender representation, voter expectations in relation to candidates that selectorates present, and why certain candidates win these primaries are underexplored in the literature. This thesis will show how primary contests have become all-pay vote-buying auctions and discuss how this relates to clientelism within political parties.

Vote buying in itself has been studied extensively in the context of general elections, but less so in primaries, where they play a significant role in influencing how selectorates in the electoral colleges vote. To address this gap, this thesis sought to test the impact of vote buying on selectorates, gender representation, the increasing costs of primaries, and their effectiveness as a campaign strategy in Ghana and within the NPP and NDC.

This research design was an extensive case study—including a within-case comparison—that developed a qualitative and exploratory research process to conduct in-depth interviews in Ghana and analyzed documentary sources during the 2020 parliamentary primaries in the Adentan, Ketu South, and New Juaben South constituencies as the data collection point for analysis. The research sampled candidate and voter behavior in stronghold constituencies where the primaries effectively determine election outcomes and in swing constituencies where primaries and main elections are competitive. The aim was to investigate the efficacy of vote buying in closed primary settings, accounting for all significant variables, and to test whether parliamentary candidate selection primaries are won by candidates who spend more on buying votes.

The study finds that almost all candidates in the study constituencies make vote-buying attempts as part of their political strategy. Money is significant in contesting and winning primaries, but so are perceptions of who, when and how that money is given. Candidates cannot always win primaries by giving money, but at the same time, a candidate may not be able to win an election without giving money – in this sense, they can be thought of as the price of playing the game, but a price that is not determinant of its outcome.

I conclude that candidates use vote buying as a campaign strategy to develop and sustain relationships with selectorates in expectation that they will translate into political advantage. Vote buying is only fully effective through a relationship-building strategy that requires continuous engagement over many years to build expected relationships that are mutually beneficial and rewarding. Because vote buying impacts are diminished by an existing all-pay vote-buying auction, candidates who win tend to be those who provide gifts on the day of voting, but winning candidates also must have engaged in the delivery of patronage goods and services over time within a moral and social economy, even if they pay relatively less than their opponents.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):