Abstract:
This study explored women‘s level of participation in grass roots politics in the Akan
constituency of the Volta Region of Ghana. A concurrent triangulation mixed method
research design was employed using the Liberal Feminist theory as the theoretical
focus of the study. A sample size of two hundred (200) respondents, comprising
women aged 18 years and above were purposively sampled from the Akan
constituency for the study. The study employed interviews and questionnaires to
gather data. The quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency,
percentage, mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (ANOVA). The
qualitative data on the other hand was thematically analyzed. The findings revealed
that poor participation of women existed at the grass root politics in the Akan
constituency. It was further revealed that the respondents were mostly motivated by
intrinsic factors when they were willing to participate in grass root politics. The
challenges that were bedeviling the women were lack of financial support, low level
of education, inferiority complex, among others. It was also revealed that there were
very few support mechanisms which sought to promote their participation. Such
mechanisms were quota system by political parties, community support and political
education by government. Findings based on the hypothesis also revealed that age and
educational level were not differentiators when it came to level of participation in
grass root politics. Among others, the study concluded that the women exclusion from
political activities is observed as the result of multiple socio-cultural, individual, and
institutional factors. Therefore, the study recommended among others that women‘s
participation in grass root politics should be encouraged to make governance more
democratic and adult education should be encouraged among the womenfolk.
Description:
A THESIS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL STUDIES, FACULTY OF
SOCIAL SCIENCE, SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF GRADUATE
STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION, WINNEBA, IN PARTIAL
FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR AWARD OF THE MASTER
OF PHILOSOPHY (SOCIAL STUDIES) DEGREE
JULY, 2017