Managing Election- Relation Violence for Democratic Stability in Ghana politic in recent times and examines in the third section how this brings about election-related violence. The chapter concludes with some recommendations in the fourth section. The paper argues that political patronage is a contributing factor to election­related violence in Ghana. Exploring the Potential Nexus between Patronage Politics and Electoral Violence Neo-patrimonialism and the associated patron-client relations are deeply rooted in the political dispensation of African countries. With the introduction of multiparty democracy in Africa, there was the hope that neo-patrimonial politics would diminish. However, there are indications that it has actually gained strength and intensity, especially during elections(Lindberg, 2003; Lindberg, 2010; Lindberg and Morrison, 2008). Neo­patrimonialism is an informal political system based on personal rule and organized through clientelistic networks of patronage, personal loyalty and coercion(Bratton and van de Walle 1997; Bayart, 1993). Bratton and van de Walle describe neo­patrimonialism as a system in which an individual'rules by dint of prestige and power; ordinary folks are treated as extensions of the “big man's” household, with no rights or privileges other than those bestowed by the ruler. Authority is entirely personalized, shaped by the ruler's preferences...The ruler ensures the political stability of the regime and personal political survival by providing a zone of security in an uncertain environment and by selectively distributing favours and material benefits to loyal followers who are not citizens of the polity so much as the ruler's clients'(Bratton and van de Walle 1997: 61). 179