Democratic and Communist Policies in dealing with the Coronavirus Pandemic: A Comparative Study of Ghana and China

Abstract

The outbreak of coronavirus in all parts of the world in the latter part of 2019 and early 2020 necessitated the need for various governments to enact and execute various policies to deal with the virus. Obviously, the effective implementation of such policies to a large extent depends on the system of government practiced in the country. It is in this regard that this paper seeks to compare the policies enacted by Ghana and the People’s Republic of China that practice a different system of government so as to determine which system of government is better in enacting and implementing policies that can best deal with the spread of a deadly disease like coronavirus. Grounded in Foucault’s Biopolitics and Governmentality, and Agamben’s Homo Sacer, the study relied on the qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) in the form of desktop review. The research does not suggest or recommend Ghana to do away with the practice of democracy and adopt communism as a system of government especially when the practice of democracy has aided the protection of fundamental human rights in Ghana. However, this study makes the case that a communist government like that of China with centralised political power is much effective and efficient in enacting and implementing strict, but necessary policies to deal with a deadly disease like coronavirus as compared to a democratic system practiced by Ghana.