Two books, "Electoral Politics and Africa's Urban Transition: Class and Ethnicity in Ghana" and "Democracy in Ghana: Everyday Politics in Urban Africa", authored by Professor Noah Nathan and Professor Jeffrey Paller respectively, have been launched in Accra.
The launch of the two books was hosted by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) Ghana.
The two books were based on research conducted by the authors in Ghana with the support of the CDD Ghana.
Prof Nathan's book was based on a study he conducted in Ghana from 2013 to 2014.
In his book, Prof Nathan who is an Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Michigan, United States, explained why vast changes in demographic and class distribution that accompany urbanisation had not produced programmatic policies or improved resource allocation.
He also throws sand in the gears of the standard account linking the growth of the middle class to the shift from clientelistic to programmatic politics.
On the part of Prof Paller, he carried his study in urban slums such as Ashaiman and Old Fadama, both in the Greater Accra Region.
Prof Paller, who is an Assistant Professor of Politics at University of San Francisco, US, developed a framework for the study of democracy and development that emphasised informal institutions and the politics of belonging in the context of daily life, in contrast to the formal and electoral paradigms that dominate the social sciences.
Based on 15 months of field research including; ethnography, observation, focus group interviews, and original quantitative survey analysis in Ghana, Prof Paller's book intervened in major debates about public goods provision, civic participation, ethnic politics and democratisation, and the future of urban sustainability in a rapid changing world.
Dr Franklin Oduro, Deputy Executive Director of CDD-Ghana, who formally launched the two books said the Centre valued research and as such opend its doors to collaborate with local and international scholars, who were interested in democratic development.
He said they had students from abroad and also African countries, who specifically were affiliated to the Centre with their research work.
Dr Oduro recounted that the key message the Centre constantly highlighted was the need for researchers to come back and share their findings with the Ghanaian audience and what the findings could contribute in deepening democratic development in Ghana.
"Jeffrey and Noah are two of such individuals who CDD-Ghana welcomed some years back", he added.
Dr Anyimadu, who commended the two Professors for the study they undertook, said at times when people talked about ideological expressions, they argue as if so far as people were able to think about it, it would surely happen, which was untrue.
He noted that part of his idea of developmental tribalism was that Ghana needed to be realistic about it capabilities.
"In politics, there is no free lunch perhaps what we need to do is to use things that already exist; whether you like it or not tribalism works" he added.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency, Prof Paller, said one of major recommendation in his book, was the need to have more space for citizens and politicians to engage with one another.
He said such engagement should focus especially on urban issues; so what was important for citizens was having access to sanitation, access to electricity and water, adding that "so bringing both citizens and politicians together to dialogue will really help in governance".
Prof Paller noted that among the biggest challenges identified had to do with land and access to tenure security.
Prof Nathan also told GNA that there was a declining trust in the political system as many people believed governments in Ghana or the state was not addressing its promises.
He said they were of the view that politicians should start showing successful implementation of their programmes that would go a long way to mobilise more participation in Ghana's Democracy.
Prof Nathan was hopeful that the book would spark conversation about new perspectives of politics in Ghana.