With longtime ruler Jerry Rawlings obeying constitutional term limits, the opposition won a narrow electoral victory, bringing Ghana its first peaceful transfer of power since independence.
Since the return of multipartism in sub-Saharan Africa, open-seat elections have been the most likely to yield opposition victories, suggesting that term limits may significantly contribute to democratic consolidation.
Ghana has won praise for its steady progress toward democratic consolidation, in late 2010 it joined the ranks of the world’s oil producers. Will the democratic institutions be able to…
