The world bank and Ghana's poverty reduction strategies: Strengthening the state or consolidating neoliberalism?

The article explores the World Bank's PRSP approach in Ghana to determine if it entails a break with the neoliberal paradigm. It does so by focusing on the concept of good governance within Ghana's poverty reduction strategies (GPRS I & II), and considers the model of the state that is implied. The priority governance areas of security and the rule of law, public sector reform, decentralisation and civil society participation are all examined. Six key findings emerge that suggest governance measures entail an ongoing project of state transformation that involves downsizing the state and re-orienting the public sector to serve private sector interests. The Ghana case strongly indicates that the governance agenda within World Bank-influenced poverty reduction strategies is not a break with neoliberalism but part of an ongoing effort to embed and consolidate neoliberal hegemony.