Chapter 1 The purpose of this volume is to attempt to respond to these and other similar questions. Managing Election-Related Violence for Democratic Stability in Ghana seeks to investigate the anomaly of violence in democracy and the tension thereof between democratic consolidation and deconsolidation, as it has been evident in Ghana since 1992. In the view of the Editors, the provision realistic, adequate and dispassionate answers to these questions can help generate new insights and approaches need to forestall violence in the upcoming national elections in 2012 and beyond, and for the promotion of peace, security and democratic stability in Ghana. The complexity of violence in democracy and the dual currents of democratic consolidation and deconsolidation mean that answers to the fundamental questions raised above cannot be found in a single all-embracing variable or perspective. Rather, the contributors to the volume seek answers that they will afford fuller insights from the complex relationship between state and society, between formal and informal institutional frameworks, within the capacity of institutional arrangements to enable and constrain actors' behavior, and within a multiplicity of psycho­cultural and historical factors. Structure and Focus of the Book This volume contains 10 chapters in all. In Chapter 1, Aning and Danso depict in broad strokes the dynamic trends evident in Ghana's prevailing political and democratic processes. They highlight the anomaly of violence in Ghana's democracy and raise certain fundamental questions that set the stage for more detailed and analytical treatment of the issue. 27