Bula Matari, Big Men, and the state : a political economy of politics and development in Ghana

Abstract

This thesis examines the nearly perpetual crisis of the state in Ghana, and specifically the co-option of state and government mandates by narrow portions of Ghanaian society, often with external interference, and the impact that this has had on Ghana's national development. This study focuses on the role of Ghana's political leaders and their regimes since independence. The primary relationship that will be investigated will be how politics has effected Ghana's development since it became an independent country in 1957. The majority of this thesis will focus on two Ghanaian leaders, Kwame Nkrumah and J. J. Rawlings. These two leaders embody the themes and undercurrents of Ghanaian political leaders; namely the utilization of the state apparatus for personal wealth accumulation and/or to transform 'small boys' into 'Big Men' via the state.