Ideology, Politics and Public Policy in Ghana: 1982–96

Abstract

Some writers on the subject of relations between the Third World state and globalization have suggested that the states in the South have lost their hegemony over their economies, and have become merely vehicles for the implementation of policies established by international financial institutions (IFIs).¹ Others take the view that in addition to their role as transmission belts for the policies of international financial institutions, these states also try to buffer their economies from the more harmful effects of externally derived policies.² Still others argue that while these states are carrying out the ‘liberalization’ policies mandated by IFIs, they try to do so ‘without putting at risk the social and political power of the ruling class’.³ As Ould-Mey has noted, in order to implement the unpopular economic policies called for by IFIs, these states try to sharpen their legitimacy, and contain the internal social and political ramifications of these ‘reforms’.⁴