Department of Political Science

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Browsing Department of Political Science by browse.metadata.advisor "De Jager, N."

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    A comparative study of governance and state development in post-colonial Botswana and Zaire/ DRC
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012-03) Esterhuyse, Harrie Willie; De Jager, N.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Political Science.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this research was to explore the interaction between governance and development in post-colonial Africa. The departure point of the thesis was the understanding that the state remains a pre-eminent actor in the international system. Keeping this assumption in mind, the study made use of a comparative analysis; comparing governance and development in Botswana with governance and development in Zaire/the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), focusing on the post-colonial era. The importance of this research lies in its contribution to the debate on the role of the state in post-colonial Africa. It explores the influence of institution formation and policy implementation by governments (in other words, governance) on development. Understanding the effect of governance on development can have invaluable lessons for other African states in their efforts to develop further. The research question, which guided the thesis thus, was: in the era of the pre-eminence of the state, making use of a comparison between Botswana and Zaire/DRC, what is the influence and effect, of state institution formation and policy implementation (governance) by governments, on state development in terms of economical-, political- and social development? The two main variables were governance and development. Development was sub-divided into three indicators: political, economic and social development. Governance was evaluated in terms of being seen as poor or good governance, as per the World Bank’s definition and understanding of governance. Zaire/DRC, as an example of a failed state, was analysed first, followed by Botswana, selected for its arguably “best practice” experience. For each country the analysis was subdivided into three phases as per the theoretical framework of Chazan, Lewis, Mortimer, Rothchild, and Stedman’s book, Politics and Society in Contemporary Africa (1999). Their book describes three stages of change in African state development in the post-colonial era (Chazan-framework). This framework uses the Chazan-framework and thus subdivides the post-colonial era into: the concentration (centralisation) phase, the elaboration phase, and finally the reconsideration of state power phase. The research found that Zaire/DRC followed a process of state collapse in the post-colonial era, whereas in sharp contrast Botswana experienced positive state development. Since independence Zaire continuously practised poor governance whilst Botswana largely practiced good governance. This was true in all three phases of the Chazan-framework. At the same time, or perhaps due to poor governance, Zaire continuously experienced negative development in all three development categories whilst Botswana continuously experienced positive development in all three development categories, again perhaps due to good governance. The research concludes that even though Botswana is not necessarily an example of a perfect state, it is special in an African context, because of its good governance record. This study does not draw direct relationships between good governance and development, but finds that Botswana probably benefited greatly in development due to the implementation of good institutions, good government policies and general good governance. The research also found that states benefit when their governments practice and adopt policies that are anti-corruption, pro-democracy, pro-competition, pro public-private partnerships, and pro market-orientated economics. In addition, the following are also conducive to good governance: leadership with integrity, peaceful and regular leadership changes, clear distinction between government (party) and the state, and empowered government oversight institutions that act, even against the government itself when needed. The practice of good governance is thus shown to be supportive of long-term development.
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    Contending interpretations of the rule of law in South Africa
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2013-12) Swart, Charl; Du Toit, P. V. D. P.; De Jager, N.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Political Science.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The following study examines whether there are contending interpretations of the rule of law present within the South African democracy. The study proposes that the rule of law forms part of the societal understanding of democracy and everyday life. Rule of law is defined in terms of mental models which influence how stakeholders conceive and define institutions. Rule of law is more than a mere institutional guarantee or set of rules — rule of law is understood as a component of a specific culture of understanding. It is shown that conceptions of rule of law have a long history in western society and have been influenced by both liberal and social ideals. Contemporary conceptions of the rule of law are tightly bound with specific notions of liberal democracy. It is hypothesised that there are distinctly identifiable opinions, beliefs and views of the rule of law present in South African democracy, and that these can be systematically described at the hand of a conceptual typology. The conceptual typology developed, identifies two contending interpretations of the rule of law, namely liberal and social rule of law. Liberal rule of law emphasises the status of the individual, moral plurality and the creation and maintenance of a rule-based society of the future. In contrast, social rule of law places emphasis on the status of the community, a single communally defined conception of the moral good and places greater emphasis on righting past injustices. Other publications that address the themes of democracy and the rule of law in South Africa are also examined in order to determine whether there is congruence between the conceptual typology developed in this study and other works. It is found that the conceptual typology is congruent with other works that depict the African National Congress’s conception of democracy, equality and liberty. These congruencies validate and strengthen the conceptual typology developed in this study. The conceptual typology is subsequently applied to a specific court case, the AfriForum v Malema hate speech case. The conceptual typology is found to be sufficiently accurate in analysing contending beliefs associated with the rule of law as expressed in this court case and identifies the African National Congress’s conception of the rule of law as falling under the social rule of law and AfriForum’s conception as aligning to the liberal rule of law. It is concluded that the conceptual typology can be empirically validated at the hand of the selected case. The conceptual typology is therefore validated with other works (conceptually) and with a specific case (empirically). It is concluded that the conceptual typology provides a clear, robust, concise and comprehensive analytical description of values and beliefs associated with the rule of law in South Africa.