Ghana in Search of Regional Integration Agenda 120 centralised systems where power is tightly held and controlled, political parties that apply consociational elements in their activities can demonstrate that they are able to diffuse tension and conflict(Debrah 2008). This system can be supplemented with the all-inclusive model of government formation that allows the winning party to extend the distribution of state power to cover opposition expertise. This can be an important step toward overcoming the challenge of disunity and polarization of the electorate along party lines – a practice that has the potential of legitimising bi­partisan politics in the country. There is a genuine believe that regional cooperation can be promoted if political parties in the sub-region build bridges that connect each other to common programmes. Although the ECOWAS Parliament represents party integration, an additional mechanism by which political parties in the sub-region would form regional alliances and blocs not only on ideological friendships but also based on strong commitments to democratic ideals. A'Union of West African Political Parties' with a solid objective anchored in democratic culture and virtues of participation, rule of law, respect for fundamental human rights, social justice and equity, among others, would be the starting point of securing effective regional integration. The recommended new design of party integration offers immense promise for successful economic integration. The current practice with an over-emphasis on economic cooperation will be illusive if political parties in the sub-region on whose platforms the ECOWAS integration are anchored are themselves not fully integrated. Party-to-party friendship can encourage mutual respect for ECOWAS programmes that have been developed by the ruling parties of member-states. Observed proceedings from several sub-regional conferences of political parties organized by the Institute of Economic Affairs(IEA), Ghana, give expression to the suggested approach. The respect and'comradeship' generated among the political parties during the conferences indicate that the various parties can work together despite their ideological differences. Conclusion The point has been made that political parties in Ghana have an important role to play in the West African integration. We have noted that since 1992, the current political parties especially the NDC, NPP, CPP and PNC(that are represented in Parliament) have played an instrumental role in the process toward'effective' integration in West Africa. The parties have deployed several strategies to promote West African integration via their manifestoes. The NDC and NPP that had formed governments have pursued programmes and policies with a view to promoting effective integration of the ECOWAS howbeit marginal the efforts have been. We further explained that organization weaknesses of the Ghanaian parties have affected the extent to which they were able to foster effective ECOWAS integration. Some of the activities of the parties have not encouraged regional integration. The