The country of Ghana in western Africa is a representative democracy. Nevertheless, many of its towns and regions continue to be allowed to have tribal chiefs, known as kings and queens, that actually have considerable power in those given locales. One such town is that Otaum, Ghana which is on the southern tip of the country about an hour from the capital of Ghana, Accra. In 2008 the 90-year-old King of Otaum died, and town elders performed a traditional ritual involving considerable prayer and liquor, by which they decided which of the deceased king's 25 living relatives would become the new king.

They reached a decision, and at 4 a.m. in the morning Eastern Standard Time in the United States, they called Peggielene Bartels, a 55-year-old single secretary living in Silver Spring, Maryland with the news. Bartels, a distant relative of the deceased king, had been chosen as the new King of Otaum! Bartels would have the power to resolve disputes in the town, appoint elders, and manage more than 1000 acres of royal land.

Bartels initially thought the call was a joke, and then said if anything she should be named "Queen"! The response was "times are changing" and that women in Ghana can now be "kings." Bartels pondered the situation for three months, and then decided to accept the job offer, but at least initially, on her own terms. After flying to Ghana for her coronation ceremony, she returned back to the United States to her job as a secretary. For the next five or six years until she retires she plans to be a "commuting King," using her vacation time to spend a number of weeks per year in Otaum fulfilling her royal duties. Once she retires from her secretary job, she then plans to move to Ghana and become king full time. When interviewed recently by a major U.S. newspaper, she stated "[n]ot everyone gets to become King . . . [p]erhaps it is my destiny."

1) Why do you think the democracy of Ghana

continues to permit local towns/regions to have

tribal chiefs, kings, and the like? Do you think this

tradition will continue on into the future?

2) Would you have made the same decision as King

Peggielene Bartels to accept the royal position?

Would you have waited five or six years until

retiring as a secretary in the United States to

move to Ghana and become king full-time?