The nature of ideology in Ghana’s 2012 elections has not been studied, but
to do so is key to understanding social, economic and political developments
in the country. This article tries to fill the gap. Theoretical guidance is taken
from Giovanni Arrighi’s The Long Twentieth Century (1994). While
the analysis is cast in the longue durée, the empirical evidence is mostly
extracted from the 2012 elections. Contrary to earlier findings that ideology
plays no part in Ghanaian politics, it is argued that it was central, to the
campaign at least, but that the position is one of common economic liberalism
rather than multiple ideologies. So, while rhetorically the parties asserted
their differences, substantially and substantively, aspiration rather than
ascription was the common unifying logic of the two major political parties.
This assessment has some positive but mostly very disturbing implications
for the distribution of wealth.