Where are the social, economic dividends of democracy?
Last Saturday, I shared an experience from a democracy-themed event in Tamale on November 29 during which a participant asked, “where are the dividends of democracy?”
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If you recall, I mentioned that the dividends of democracy fall into three categories- political dividends (basic guaranteed freedoms); social dividends (policies designed to address issues such as personal safety, access to education, healthcare, etc.) and economic dividends (policies designed to address issues such as unemployment, living standards, management of the economy, etc.) all of which combine to produce the effect which gives Ghanaians a positive or negative lived experience and a feeling of whether they are enjoying the dividends of democracy or not.
Given the evidence I shared, based on findings of the Afrobarometer barometer survey, the conclusion was that Ghanaians do feel positive about the political dividends of this democracy, imperfect as it may appear to be.
I promised to return and deal with whether democracy has been delivering social and economic dividends.
Social dividends of democracy
Overall, on average, anywhere between five and six out of ten Ghanaians feel satisfied with the social dividends democracy has been delivering.
There are two critical points to note about this though – a) the level of satisfaction is period specific; and b) over time, there has been a significant decline in the percentage of Ghanaians saying they are satisfied with the social dividends being delivered by democracy.
The brightest spot for social dividends is in two areas – addressing education needs and improving basic health services.
Over the course of nine rounds of the Afrobarometer survey, on average, six out of ten (61%) Ghanaians feel satisfied with how their education needs are being addressed.
Six out of ten (60%) also feel satisfied with the improvement in basic health services.
For the other social dividends, on average, this is the level of satisfaction among Ghanaians- reducing crime (54%); providing water and sanitation services (51%); and providing reliable electricity (54%).
The best years where Ghanaians expressed greater levels of satisfaction with these social dividends combined was in 2008 (71%), 2017 (67%), 2019 (61%) and 2012 (56%).
The not-so-good years were 2022 (38%) and 2014 (33%).
Overall, though, there have been significant declines in how satisfied Ghanaians are ranging between nine (-9) and thirty (-30) percentage points.
The worst affected areas are provision of water and sanitation services (-22) and reducing crime (-30).
Economic dividends of democracy
The key economic dividend, as a I recently shared, is jobs.
From the Afrobarometer survey, unemployment is number one priority.
Over the eight times that the survey has asked Ghanaians – “In your opinion, what are the most important problems facing this country that government should address?”
Unemployment has emerged as the number one priority five times (2002, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2017); management of the economy twice (2014, 2022); and infrastructure once (2019).
For this key economic dividend, satisfaction is mixed.
The period between 1999 and 2008 saw a significant increase in the level of satisfaction from thirty-nine per cent (39%) to fifty-four per cent (54%).
There was a decline in the next two rounds of the survey – 2012 (32%) and 2014 (21%).
There was a rebound in 2017 (45%) and 2019 (42%) compared to the previous two rounds of the survey.
The year 2022 saw a significant decline to sixteen per cent (16%).
On the management of the economy, experiences with this dividend have seen periods of high ratings- 2002 (67%), 2008 (68%) and 2017 (66%); fair ratings – 2005 (59%), 2012 (46%), and 2019 (51%)); and low ratings- 2014 (25%) and 2022 18%).
The Afrobarometer survey asks about deprivation in five areas – food, water, cooking fuel, medical care, and cash income.
I focus on those who say they have never experienced deprivation in any of them.
A high percentage saying “never” is ideal because it demonstrates that there is not much deprivation in that area.
Alternatively, a lower percentage means there is a lot of deprivation being faced in that area.
There have been very positive developments in four areas.
On average, the picture looks like this – food (70%), water (71%), medical care (64%), and cooking fuel (79%).
Cash income deprivation (35% on average), however, lags significantly and continues to be the one area where citizens continue to face the most deprivation.
So where are the dividends of democracy?
I believe the main dividend of democracy being enjoyed and in a consistent manner are the three political freedoms discussed in the previous piece.
When it comes to the social and economic benefits there are periods of positive experiences as well as negatives.
The key question for the custodians of our democratic governance system is this – how do you ensure positive delivery of the democracy dividends in a consistent manner?