Africans study American democracy and are politely appalled

[Michael Pollak <mpollak@xxxxxxxxx>]

URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/30/nyregion/30ghana.html

The New York Times
April 30, 2004

Studying Albany, and Giggling Politely

   By MARC SANTORA

   A LBANY, April 29 - The people of the visiting party from Ghana, a
   fledgling West African democracy, spoke perfect English, but walking
   the marble corridors of power in Albany, they came across a word they
   had never heard before.

   "We were amused by the word 'lobbyist,' " said Moses Asaga, a ranking
   member of Ghana's Parliament. "This lobbyist can just walk around and
   they get money," he said, laughing.

   It was not the only surprise for the delegation visiting the capital
   city for what was billed as a firsthand look at American democracy in
   action. Specifically, they were on a mission to understand how the
   budget process works in the United States.

   But in visiting Albany, they were studying a world where individual
   lawmakers have a minimal effect on budget issues, deferring instead to
   three men who argue behind closed doors and then explain to the
   representatives how to vote. Indeed, several things about the workings
   of Albany mystified the group.

   "We have a definite time when the budget must be passed," said Eugene
   Agyepong, chairman of the Finance Committee in Ghana's Parliament.
   With Albany's budget late for the 20th consecutive year, and New York
   the only state in the nation with such an unblemished record, Mr.
   Agyepong could be forgiven for finding the situation a bit hard to
   understand.

   "If we do not have a budget, the government shuts down," he said.

   New York, with a population of 18 million people, has a budget of more
   than $100 billion. Ghana, with a population of 20 million people, has
   a budget of just $1.6 billion.

   Mr. Agyepong said that the hardest thing to understand, in some ways,
   was just where all the money was going, particularly the funds dealing
   with domestic security. While West Africa in general is not a place
   where there are functioning governments, much less governments
   operating in a way the public can scrutinize, the delegation found New
   York's budget "opaque."

   "Here we have to ask a lot of questions," Mr. Agyepong said. "You just
   really don't know how each allocation is spent. That is quite bleak."

   Nestled between Togo and Ivory Coast, Ghana is one of the few bright
   spots in a region torn by civil war and corrupt despots. A former
   British colony, the nation operates on a parliamentary system; in
   2000, John Kufuor was elected president in elections that observers
   considered fair.

   In Albany, the same triumvirate has been in power for more than a
   decade: the governor, George E. Pataki; the Assembly speaker, Sheldon
   Silver; and the Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno. During that
   time they have consolidated their power to such a degree that little
   is done without their express permission.

   "We don't have powers concentrated to such a degree at the highest
   level," Mr. Asaga said. "We find this a little bit strange. We
   expected more debate, more opinions."

   The visit was arranged by the State University of New York and the
   United States Agency for International Development. The Ghanaians
   visited both chambers of the Legislature. Outside the Senate, an 1892
   oil painting by William Bengough depicted a young Theodore Roosevelt
   before a group of elegantly dressed men in a swirl of activity
   conveying the vibrancy of big ideas being discussed.

   "They were eating hamburgers and drinking canned soda," Mr. Asaga said
   of the modern-day lawmakers he saw.

   Members of the delegation, unfailingly polite, were no less surprised
   at the business being conducted.

   "They would introduce some baseball team to the speaker," Mr. Asaga
   said. "Someone introduced his son."

   Not sure whether this was time well spent in conducting the business
   of the state, Mr. Asaga said that back in Ghana such antics would have
   drawn condemnation.

   "They would have said, "What does this have to do with anything?' "

   Mr. Agyepong, nodding but sensing a bit of diplomacy might be needed,
   said, "Everybody has different ways."

    Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company