Exploring Women’s Level of Participation in Grassroots Politics in the Akan Constituency of Ghana

Abstract

The study was aimed at exploring women’s level of participation in grassroots politics in the Akan constituency of the Volta Region of Ghana. A concurrent triangulation mixed method research design was undertaken using the Liberal Feminist theory as the theoretical focus of the study. A selected sample size of two hundred (200) respondents was employed for the study. This included women who were 18 years and above. They were purposively and conveniently selected. The study employed interviews and questionnaires to gather data to assess the extent of women’s participation in the grassroots level politics. Quantitative data were analysed using frequency, percentages, mean, standard deviation, whilst qualitative data were analysed systematically and logically into themes. The responses of the open-ended questions were grouped according to themes in relation to common ideas expressed and general pattern were sorted out of them. The findings revealed that poor participation of women existed at the grassroots 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 grassroots politics. Findings based on the hypothesis also revealed that age and educational level were not differentiators when it came to level of participation in grassroots politics. The following recommendations were made based on these findings: Women’s participation in grassroots politics should be encouraged to make governance more democratic and adult education should be encouraged for the womenfolk.

Keywords: Akan Constituency, Ghana, Grassroots Politics, Level of Participation, Women Politics