Opposition and Democracy in South Africa

by Southall; Roger

• ISBN13: 9780714651491
• ISBN10: 0714651494
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-06-01
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Nelson Mandela's African National Congress won an overwhelming victory in South Africa's liberation election and repeated that triumph when the electorate went back to the polls in 1999. Whilst testifying to the enduring popularity of the ANC, these results have precipitated an emergent debate about the quality of the country's hard won democracy. In particular, a critique of the new government's performance in office has developed around the notion of the ANC as a "dominant party", one of which for demographic, historical and social reasons is unlikely to be displaced from power in an election for the forseeable future. This has led, in turn, to key questions about the role of the political parties of opposition. The debate about the ANC's dominance therefore becomes a debate about whether democracy in South Africa is just formal or whether it is real.

Table of Contents

Opposition in South Africa: Issues and Problems	1	(24)
Roger Southall
The Electoral System and Opposition Parties in South Africa	25	(28)
David Pottie
Opposition in the New South African Parliament	53	(16)
Lia Nijzink
A Question of Interest: Women as Opposition	69	(16)
Louise Vincent
Race, Democracy and Opposition in South African Politics: As Other a Way as Possible	85	(18)
Gerhard Mare
The Politics of Adaptation and Equivocation: Race, Class and Opposition in Twentieth-Century South Africa	103	(14)
Paul Maylam
A Consummation Devoutly to be Wished? The Democratic Alliance and Its Potential Constituencies	117	(18)
Hennie Kotze
The Realities of Opposition in South Africa: Legitimacy, Strategies and Consequences	135	(14)
Robert Schrire
Reflections on the Politics of Minorities, Race and Opposition in Contemporary South Africa	149	(12)
Ivor Sarakinsky
Dominant Party Rule, Opposition Parties and Minorities in South Africa	161	(22)
Hermann Giliomee
James Myburgh
Lawrence Schlemmer
Democracy, Power and Patronage: Debate and Opposition within the African National Congress and the Tripartite Alliance since 1994	183	(24)
Dale T. McKinley
Political Alliances and Parliamentary Opposition Post-Apartheid South Africa	207	(20)
Adam Habib
Rupert Taylor
`White' Political Parties and Democratic Consolidation in South Africa	227	(10)
Eddy Maloka
Cynicism at the Grassroots: Political Opposition in Kwazakele Township, Port Elizabeth	237	(18)
Janet Cherry
The Alliance under Stress: Governing in a Globalizing World	255	(20)
Eddie Webster
Conclusion: Emergent Perspectives on Opposition in South Africa	275	(10)
Roger Southall
Abstracts	285	(6)
List of Contributors	291	(1)
Index	292