Civilian control and military effectiveness in South Africa and Ghana

Abstract

Looking at South Africa and Ghana, this chapter compares two cases of relative success in regard to democratization and the establishment of civilian control in sub-Saharan Africa. While both countries have created comprehensive frameworks for civilian control after their democratization in the 1990s, the setup and performance of oversight institutions differ to some extent. Institutions in South Africa are somewhat stronger and are more democratically balanced than in Ghana, where the military enjoys a certain amount of autonomy. However, both military organizations can be regarded as rather effective, despite financial, personal, and technical constraints. The chapter further focuses on the countries respective involvement in peacekeeping activities on the continent. By comparing their performance, conceptual shortcomings about the meaning of military effectiveness become obvious.