Luna J.
Constituency Service in Ghana. Working Paper.
AbstractConstituency service is an important duty for politicians. Numerous scholars argue that this duty is critical for reelection (Fiorina 1977, Fenno 1978). In the African context, constituency service is also important for both electoral and social reasons, but research on this topic primarily focuses on national legislators. Based on my fieldwork observations, I argue that citizens in sub–Saharan Africa often turn to local politicians for a variety of reasons. Drawing from a survey administered to 2809 Ghanaian cocoa farmers, I employ a non-parametric matching design to determine which factors drive these farmers to seek help from various local leaders. I find nuanced results across treatments spanning economic, political and demographic dimensions. The results of this research hold numerous implications for scholars and practitioners.
luna_2015_constituencyservice.pdf Luna J.
Judicial Independence in an African State. Working Paper.
AbstractJudicial independence, that is, the ability for a court to decide cases free from political influence, is an important tenet of democratic governance. This topic, however, is understudied in the African context. Drawing on 540 Supreme Court of Ghana opinions issued between 1960–2005, which span authoritarian and democratic regimes, I apply methods of automated–text analysis to characterize cases covering Court jurisdiction, property, criminal and civil law. I find evidence that post-1992 Court cases on jurisdiction and civil law exhibit greater adherence to the Constitution of Ghana, plausibly indicating independence from external forces.
luna_2015_judicialindependence.pdf