Why are we in such a state? Could it be that the political parties and actors have, collectively, bootless to put afore Ghanaians letters and programmes of an alive purpose and accept appropriately bootless to arouse the acuteness and energies of Ghanaians to band up our loins to accouterment the burning assignment of civic development that lies advanced of us? To my mind, the anatomy and activity of our political parties charge a additional and a austere look
It is said that,"no alignment in the Church, business or government can survive unless from time-to-time it re-examines its purpose for actuality and allotment to that aboriginal agenda; contrarily it gets deflected into all sorts of ancillary issues." (John Gardner- Cocky Renewal) Kenneth Janda additionally teaches us that the acclimation attempt of political parties puts parties into anatomy capital authoritative manifestations or forms; - Party, Team, Tribe and Cult
At the amount is the archetypal political party. Edmund Burke, Harold Laski, Karl Deutsche and abounding others accept authentic or declared a political activity as the advancing calm of like minds, to seek political ability for the development of a nation. It is an alignment that attracts adherents and activists to its political principles
Edmund Burke captivated that parties abutting politicians "united for announcement their aggregate endeavors the civic absorption aloft some accurate attempt in which they are all agreed." Political parties are accordingly acclaimed by the ideas, values, goals and accurate attempt they ascendancy or aspire to, and that draws like minds together. They additionally seek to abode their accepted assembly in government position as agents to advance their accepted goals
The appellation "avowed representatives" agency that they charge be aboveboard articular with the activity name and/or label. Placing their accepted assembly in government positions charge broadly be interpreted as through the balloter process, which is the alone accepted agency by which ability charge be approved and won. It is this anatomy or appearance to which the appellation "political party" charge be reserved
The abutting appearance or anatomy of political alignment is what Anthony Downs declared as Teams "seeking to advantage the administering accoutrement by accepting appointment in a appropriately constituted election." His arch altercation was that whenever a political party, appropriately so called, bargain its accomplished cold and focus to aloof acceptable elections, it would accept become an balloter aggregation or apparatus that will change its position on any accountable artlessly for the account of acceptable elections
Their acumen for actuality gets bargain for acceptable an election. Annihilation abroad affairs not alike the values, beliefs, attempt and behavior aloft which the activity was founded
Once ability has been won on such an adept basis, the contradictions activate to emerge. The activity appears not to be what voters anticipation it was; the programmes and promises cannot be abiding and become dysfunctional; bifold allocution abounds and bodies who were apparent as honest no best arise so. We again alight into an era of insincerity and double-talk
In his book, "It was all a big lie; How the Republican Activity became Donald Trump," Stuart Stevens wrote, "A political activity after a college purpose is annihilation added than a cartel, a syndicate. There is no organized, articular purpose added than the accretion and aliment of power." Lillian Manson additionally describes a bearings area accessory behavior is apprenticed or motivated by amusing and appropriate groups affiliated to a party. The activity at this date becomes a political "Tribe." It comprises the hardcore activity identifiers who generally adjust added carefully with the "Team" than with the activity in general
They become a cabal, a bunch or a accumulation aural a above accumulation for whom the party's wins or losses are internalized and personalized
The bodies who affiliated calm into a assembly to abduction and use the above political activity for their attenuated ends activate a convenance of acute centralized character politics, which alone seeks to exclude all who are not "them" from whatever assets ability may bring
It may beggarly marginalizing or ablution from the ranks of the party, all those who are apparent not to be "in" with the cabal. The adopted accent is that he or she is not one of us and charge accordingly be expended
The final appearance of appearance is back all political activities and focus is centered about the personality of one being then, the activity would accept breakable into a cult
The German sociologist Max Weber acclimated the appellation "cult" to alarm leaders with "expansive personalities who authorize advantage over added animal beings by their ascendant forcefulness." The followers, out of a collapsed and barren acknowledgment to power, grants them broad ascendancy to act for them on political matters, and giving the band baton the appropriate to aphorism the activity as if he endemic it
It is through such a bastille that we as Ghanaians charge booty a austere accessory at the accompaniment of autonomous backroom in adjustment to axis the accelerate of our anatomy adroit into political anomie, and acknowledgment us to our aboriginal agenda, and not be deflected by the abounding advancing theatrics
Of the four manifestations of political alignment or mobilization, the one which seems to accept achromatic the best is the archetypal political party. In its bastardization, the attributes of like-mindedness, values, ethos, principles, mores, and allure of adherents and activists to political attempt accept all suffered a austere erosion
Burke's abstraction of parties abutting politicians "united for announcement their aggregate endeavors, the civic absorption aloft some accurate attempt in which they are all agreed," seems to be lost
Instead of civic interest, there is the advancing and apparent following of attenuated cocky or exclusive absorption alike to the damage of the civic good
Instead of allotment amid blockage accurate to its principles, ethics and mores, parties and political actors accept acceptable votes
Instead of activity accord and aggregate interest, we accept breakable into "Teams" and "Tribes" aural parties, whose alone cold is the monopolization of the allowances of political power
Since independence, the boundless monopolization of ability by one being (one-man appearance as Accepted Kutu Acheampong acclimated to alarm it) has been the affliction of our political lives
"Our political parties and amusing entities are brittle in their backbone and aerial in their toughness. The adherence that makes them action able-bodied additionally makes them accessible to disruption. They are based on assurance and covenant, apprenticed calm by airy not cowhide. Attacked, tampered with, continued above their bearing, these ties may breeze and let the alignment abatement apart." Our backroom is no best altogether a quiet and aristocratic activity of accessory to the austere and burning business of civic development. It is now backroom of the blatant and animated bazaar place, and acclamation platforms area babble has added amount than account and thought
Like a declining engine, we all can apprehend the sputtering. It charge be bright to abounding that our capitalism is beneath some distress. The acute and sometimes bootless debates and animal noises are affection of this distress. This charge be a admonishing to us all that we cannot allow to sit on our easily and watch this decline, about apathetic or ephemeral some may appetite to cast it
The coercion of now arises from the actuality that any political activity that is not bed-rocked aloft the solid foundation of civic development bound degenerates into a bent enterprise. We in Ghana cannot cartel accessory or booty a simple footfall in that direction
We charge aboriginal reexamine the built-in framework aural which we convenance our democracy
We charge additionally reexamine our political parties with the appearance to authoritative them fit for purpose
If done in tandem, we angle a bigger adventitious of creating an ambiance as able-bodied as appropriate cartage to action calmly in that new environment. No one being or accumulation of bodies will accept all the answers. It will not be an accessible assignment of a civic exercise, but it is a assignment account undertaking