Managing Election- Relation Violence for Democratic Stability in Ghana Elections in particular have acquired such high stakes for many Ghanaians that the electoral process has become characterized by incidents of violence. At the heart of much of this politically motivated violence is the involvement of the youth who do so for various reasons, including protecting and defending the interests of their political parties and politicians. History of Youth Participation in Ghanaian Politics Historically, the participation of the youth in the political life of the Gold Coast and subsequently Ghana was largely through the formation of youth organizations and their activities. To some extent, Ghana was a product of youth movement revolutions (Fisherman and Solomon, 1964). Consequently, the participation of youth organizations has typically been part and parcel of politics in Ghana(Asante, 2006:214). In his study on'The Youth and Politics in Ghana: Reflections on the 2004 General Elections', Asante writes about Chazan's 1974 work which outlines the history of youth organizations in Ghana and categorizes their growth into four different 147 phases. For the purposes of this chapter, however, we adopt and focus on the period from the attainment of independence(1957) up to 1992, and the post-1992 period to the present. The 1957-1992 period in Ghana's politics saw various political regimes and transitions, both civilian and military. Throughout this period, some form of youth involvement in the political processes could be identified. In 1957, Kwame Nkrumah, who became the country's first post-independence leader, had at a very youthful age played a lead role in the nationalist struggle that shaped the country's political life afterwards. 147 According to Chazan, phase one is described as'prior to the encounter' and this period was marked by the formation of indigenous youth organizations, especially in the coastal and forest areas of West Africa. Phase two brought about the establishment of voluntary, trans-ethnic youth groups and became part of the decolonization process of the time. Chazan's third phase of the growth of youth organizations was the early years of independence where youth groups were government-controlled and they sought to participate in the country's new national life. The fourth and final phase was the post-Nkrumah overthrow where attempts were made by subsequent governments to normalize the roles of youth groups in the country. See Asante, R.,(2006)'The Youth and politics in Ghana: Reflections on the 2004 General Elections' in Voting for Democracy in Ghana; the 2004 elections in perspective, Thematic Studies Vol. 1. 313