Communicating Development Through Electoral Manifestos: A Comparative Analysis of NDC and NPP Campaign Texts in Ghana, 2008–2024

Abstract

Political party manifestos are important instruments through which competing visions of development are communicated and democratic legitimacy is negotiated. This article examines presidential election manifestos of Ghana’s National Democratic Congress (NDC) and New Patriotic Party (NPP) from 2008 to 2024 as development communication texts. Drawing on participatory development communication and framing theory, the study employs qualitative comparative content analysis of ten manifestos to analyze how the two parties frame development, construct citizen roles, and communicate accountability. The findings reveal considerable convergence in policy priorities, with both parties consistently emphasizing employment, education, health, agriculture, infrastructure, governance, and poverty reduction. However, the NDC generally frames development through social justice, equity, welfare, and state-led recovery, whereas the NPP foregrounds enterprise, digitalization, individual opportunity, and private-sector-led transformation. Despite their people-centred rhetoric, both parties predominantly position citizens as voters, beneficiaries, or economic actors rather than as active co-producers of development. The study further identifies a growing emphasis on social-contract and accountability narratives, although mechanisms for citizen participation and post-election monitoring remain uneven. The article contributes to African electoral studies by demonstrating that manifestos function not merely as campaign documents but as communicative arenas where development, citizenship, accountability, and democratic legitimacy are constructed and contested.