Transition to democracy have been a complex and difficult process for many thirdwave democratic countries across the globe. In Ghana, past military governments, role of political parties, rule of law, ethnocentrism and human rights abuses and have played a key role in Ghana’s 1992 Constitution and fourth attempt to democratic governance. In addition, eight successful national elections and five change of governments from 1992-2020 have made Ghana one of the shining examples of democracy in West Africa. The aim of this study has been tounderstand and assess the impact of national elections and change of government in Ghana’s transition to democracy from 1992-2020. To achieve this, I have selected secondary sources from academic books, journals, reports, and have implemented Samuel Huntington’s “Two-turnover test” theoretical concept to examine how national elections and change of governments have contributed to Ghana’s transition to democracy from 1992 -2020. My key finding is that national elections and change of governments have not completely contributed positively to the transition to democracy in Ghana.

Zambia is one of only three countries in southern Africa which has experienced two alternations, but there has been little institutional reform since independence. A time-based comparison of Zambia’s constitution, legislation and institutions from 1991 to 2015 is conducted because the ‘moving picture’ reveals continuities which tend to be overlooked by a ‘snapshot’ analysis. New incumbents are reluctant to relinquish the increasing returns derived from executive dominance and weak oversight institutions such as the national assembly and judiciary. Therefore, institutional weaknesses from Zambia’s one-party state have infiltrated the multi-party era, where they continue to blur the separation of powers. Factionalism stemming from ethnic polarisation, which emerged in the colonial era, undermines all ruling parties in Zambia. The study finds that succession contests, triggered by term limits or the deaths of sitting presidents, are the primary mechanism which repeatedly weakens dominant parties. The outcomes of such intra-party conflicts have far-reaching consequences for the political party system by giving rise to new parties, re-orientating ethnic and political alliances, and contributing to turnover in elections. However, the dissertation reveals that both the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy and the Patriotic Front governments in Zambia reneged on the reforms which they promised while in opposition and opted to maintain the constitutional clauses, repressive legislation and patronage system which they inherited. An extensive analysis of the 35 by-elections which occurred after the 2011 turnover ascertains that there was pervasive co-option of opposition members into the Patriotic Front, leading back to the dominant path. Therefore, the dissertation concludes that one-party dominance in Zambia is path dependent. Consequently, it is an alternation fallacy to expect the ousting of a dominant party to stimulate democratisation. Democracy advocates will need to confront the challenge of providing incentives that will persuade incumbents to undertake reforms which diminish executive dominance and strengthen the independence of oversight institutions.