Government institutional performance examined through social capital and collective memory for selected district assemblies in Ghana

Earlier research has shown that improvements in government institutional performance will lead citizens to collectively increase their trust or collective memory toward that institution; as well as leading those citizens to increase their trust or social capital toward other citizens. This study within six District Assemblies in Ghana sought to examine if these same relationships existed. Improvements in performance of the members in these six District Assemblies were defined by increases in District Assembly Common Fund expenditures. Greater collective memory among members within a District Assembly was defined as decreases in the percentage of members believing that corruption was present or increases in the percentage of members believing that social capital was present in other District Assemblies. Greater social capital was defined as increases in the percentage of members reporting working with other members and perceiving that relationship as equal and trusting. Using the permutation test, significant positive correlations were observed between collective memory and social capital but these correlations were not consistent with performance. Rather, performance was either poor for all District Assemblies or increased as social capital and collective memory declined. Unequal patron-client relations and low risks to political actors are discussed as possible factors influencing performance and democratic consolidation.