Ghana on its way to becoming a "mature democracy"

Polling closed in Ghana’s parliamentary and presidential elections yesterday afternoon, and early results are beginning to roll in, showing a very close presidential contest between Nana Akuffo Addo of the ruling NPP and Professor John Atta Mills of the NDC. Somewhat surprisingly, though, the election has received little mainstream media coverage, leading some to ask whether Ghana even exists.

The election carries particular importance in a continent marred by widespread corruption and corrupt elections (most recent examples include Kenya in December 2007 and Nigeria this past April). The success of the election could mean the rise of  "mature democracy" in a region where states so defined are a rarity. This, according to Joel Barkan, a senior associate at the Africa Program of the Center for International and Strategic Studies in Washington DC. While I would argue that his definition of "mature democracy" is rather narrow (he effectively defines a mature democracy as a country that has had two successful handovers from power from one legitimately elected leader to another), the analysis is nevertheless an interesting refresher of  a critical political science concept as it applies to Africa. You can read his analysis here. 

(For updated election results, see the Ghana Elections Twitter feed, which is being updated several times an hour)

Funny because it's true

From Indexed, of course.

Prank call to Zardari almost led to war

Oh my goodness. I'm amazed that this hasn't received more media attention:

A hoax telephone call almost sparked another war between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan at the height of last month's terror attacks on Mumbai, officials and Western diplomats on both sides of the border said on Sunday.

Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistani President, took a telephone call from a man pretending to be Pranab Mukherjee, India's Foreign Minister, on Friday, November 28, apparently without following the usual verification procedures, they said.

The hoax caller threatened to take military action against Pakistan in response to the then ongoing Mumbai attacks, which India has since blamed on the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), they said.

Mr Zardari responded by placing Pakistan's air force on high alert and telephoning Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, to ask her to intervene.

Krugman's Nobel lecture

You can find the lecture slides (which are great) here, and watch the lecture, given at 9a.m. today, here.