Strengthening national identities in Africa? Analyzing the impact of Ghana's National Service Scheme

Abstract In order to avoid and overcome the manifold problems associated with weak nationalism in Africa, many African countries have introduced a range of nation‐building policies. However, only very few studies have systematically investigated whether and to what extent these policies have contributed towards promoting stronger national attachments. In this paper, we examine and assess the impact of one particular type of nation‐building intervention: i.e. national service programmes. More specifically, we analyse to what extent the national service programme in Ghana contributes towards advancing participants' feelings of national attachment. To evaluate the impact of this programme, we implement a quasi‐experimental research design with matching cohort control groups. The results of our study lend strong support to the presence of a national service effect. Our empirical analysis show that this positive national service effect is directly related to the frequency and quality of intergroup contact that NSS participants experienced during their national service deployment. As expected, the impact of national service is also highly dependent on participants' pre‐service level of national attachment: The increase in national attachment is smaller for respondents who scored higher on national pride before the start of their national service deployment.