We have deluded ourselves long enough, but it is time to face the cold, brutal, fact.
Democracy has never really been about the ‘MASSES’. Never has been, never is, and never shall be. Period.
Democracy is the game of competition within the elite whereby the neutral arbiters – the so-called ‘Masses’ – are called upon merely to become independent referees, because they have far less at stake.
In that light, the health of a democracy is measured by HOW LESS dysfunctional the elite becomes as a function of time, and in comparison with elites in other societies with which the community in question has contact (i.e. the bigger game going on among nations).
And that dysfunction, in the case of Ghana for instance, is the result of a lack of sufficient self-awareness among the elite of their ROLE in the game, and hence their inability to produce consistent rules that keep the game from descending into total chaos.
Where I differ with the profound minds of Kwame Kyei-baffour and H Kwasi Prempeh is their view that the elite, in the specific case of Ghana or some African states, can be ‘healed’ to become less dysfunctional by focusing on the ‘values’ of their individual members, with the ultimate goal of making democracy a truly Masses game.
Ain’t ever happening.