Views of Public Participation in Ghana: Benefits, Barriers and Models

Citizens’ participation in decision making, over the years, has not been given much reputation in Ghana. This research was to find out citizens’ views of public participation in Ghana with respect how final decisions in communities are influenced; communities knowledge on citizenship educations; techniques used to involve citizens in decision making and barriers and benefits of participation that may be peculiar to communities. The research aims to show the relationship between power dynamic, citizenship education, and participation techniques and how they act together to motivate citizens to participate in local decision making. To achieve the purpose of the study, the researcher employed the descriptive survey method. This is because the research generally is concerned with the present status of the phenomena. A snowball sampling and purposive sampling procedures were employed and a total of 14 participants were recorded. The data were collected using a semi-structured interview guide. The interview guide was divided into five sections and the data was analysed qualitatively. In a nutshell, the study confirmed though opportunities are created for community members to participate in decision-making, however, they perceive their views and opinions have less influence on governments’ policies that are eventually introduced in their communities. It was also confirmed that the community members do not have any formal education aim at improving their civic competence and knowledge with the exception of the formal citizenship education they encountered during their basic education. The study again unearthed that public meetings and forums the only methods used to engage citizens in decision making and hence more advanced method needs to be introduced to motivate citizens to participate in the decision-making of issues that affect them.