KAS Ghana
KAS Ghana
KAS Ghana
KAS Ghana
Reliable data and sound political analysis are essential for informed democratic debate and evidence-based policymaking. Yet political discussions are often shaped as much by assumptions and perceptions as by empirical evidence. For decades, KAS Ghana has therefore complemented its dialogue and capacity-building activities with research, surveys and political analysis, generating knowledge that helps political actors, civil society and the wider public better understand the developments shaping Ghana’s democracy.
An important example is Stocktaking Ghana’s Democracy, a research series that grew out of a comprehensive post-election study following Ghana’s 2024 general elections. Rather than focusing solely on election results, the research examined the motivations behind them: Why did citizens vote the way they did? What influences political participation? How do Ghanaians perceive political parties, candidates and democratic institutions? To answer these questions, enumerators travelled across the country and spoke directly with citizens about their voting behaviour and political participation. The image captures one of these encounters, with an enumerator speaking to two women in Ghana’s Upper East Region.
Research of this kind reflects an important dimension of KAS’s role as a political foundation, think tank and knowledge partner. By generating reliable data and translating research findings into accessible political analysis, KAS seeks to provide a stronger empirical basis for public debate, political decision-making and policy development. Equally important are the Foundation’s long-standing partnerships with Ghanaian academic and research institutions, including GIMPA and the University of Ghana. Combining local academic expertise with KAS’s ability to connect research, political dialogue and decision-makers helps ensure that knowledge does not remain within academia but feeds into the broader democratic and policy discourse.
Ultimately, collecting data is not an end in itself. It is about understanding how democracy is experienced by citizens and ensuring that political debates and decisions are informed by evidence, and by the voices of the people they affect.
