Masters Degrees (Political Science)

Permanent URI for this collection

https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/659

Browse

Browsing Masters Degrees (Political Science) by browse.metadata.advisor "de Jager, Nicola"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Redistributive populism versus strengthening property rights: A comparative study of Venezuela and Zimbabwe, and Uruguay and Botswana
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-03) van Zyl, Ernst Jacobus; de Jager, Nicola; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Political Science.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Liberal democracies are commonly lauded for their accomplishments in maintaining democratic stability, as well as steady trends of decreasing poverty. The general observation has been that liberal democracies have exhibited impressive records of economic growth, accompanied by relative political stability. However, as the 21stcentury has progressed, issues such as inequality persist and new political trends emerge. The liberal democratic paradigm is evidently coming under increasing scrutiny and in many cases challenged. Many of these challenges originated in a new wave of populism, of both a left-wing and right-wing variety, which are gaining a foothold and momentum in the Western world, as well as in the global South. While the Western democracies are witnessing a resurgence in right-wing populism, the global South is being increasingly characterised by the rise of left-wing populism. This thesis focuses specifically on case studies in the global South and thus on a populism of the left built on a platform of radical redistribution. The thesis attempts to answer the following research question: Is redistributive populism a sustainable long-term policy path for economic growth, poverty and inequality reduction, and for democratic consolidation, or is protecting and enforcing property rights a better alternative to achieve these aims? In order to answer this question, four case studies were compared and contrasted: Venezuela and Zimbabwe were selected as cases where redistributive, left-wing populist regimes have prevailed and under which property rights were substantially eroded; Uruguay and Botswana represent cases of the protection and enforcing of property rights.This qualitative thesis utilises a comparative case study research design, using desktop analysis. In Venezuela and Zimbabwe a decline in support for the incumbent party was the catalyst for increasingly radical redistributive populist platforms. This thesis found that the redistributive populist cases of Venezuela and Zimbabwe achieved initial improvements in poverty reduction, but that as their redistributive policy paths became increasingly radicalized, these positive conditions stagnated and eventually regressed. Under these redistributive populist regimes, liberal democratic checks on power were weakened or eliminated, and their radical policies led to prolonged periods of substantial economic contraction and hyperinflation. When the Chávez and Maduro regimes in Venezuela, and the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe, failed to deliver on their populist promises and their economies faltered, their support dwindled further, resulting in an increased radicalization of their redistributive policies and escalated suppression of the opposition in order to retain power. The cumulative result was that support for democracy as the preferable system significantly declined amongst the populations of their countries. Their democracies therefore deconsolidated through declining support for democracy and the erosion or elimination of liberal democratic institutions. . In contrast, the two cases where property rights were protected and enforced, namely Uruguay and Botswana, achieved impressive declines in poverty levels and sustained relatively high levels of economic growth. Protecting property rights contributed significantly to their investor-friendly economies and attracted large amounts of foreign direct investment. Venezuela and Botswana were both were rich in one major commodity, but in contrast to Venezuela, where the regime nationalised the oil industry, Botswana negotiated a deal with the diamond industry on the basis of respecting its property rights. The result was that the diamond industry became the engine of the Botswana economy, as it split the revenues with the government, which then re-invested in infrastructure, education and healthcare, and diversifying the economy. Both Uruguay and Botswana are internationally recognised for their strong liberal democratic institutions and stable democratic records, and support for democracy in both countries is significantly high. Their democracies have been able to maintain their level of consolidation, as well as build on it. Yet none of the four cases examined has shown a radical reduction in their Gini coefficients, which is a phenomenon requiring further research.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Struggle(s) for Self-determination: Afrikaner Aspirations in the Twenty-first Century
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2018-03) Visagie, Riaan; de Jager, Nicola; Fourie, Pieter; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Political Science.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The question of self-determination is not a new one. Struggles for autonomy have drawn interest both from within and outside academia, and as a phenomena is not confined solely to history. Contemporary examples abound, including the recent decision of British voters to support a negotiated exit from the European Union – known as Brexit – and the uncertainty caused by calls for Catalonian and Kurdish independence. Clearly this phenomena holds valid and real consequences for the global state system. Moreover, very few scholarly studies touch upon Afrikaner self-determination, not to mention provide an in-depth analysis of just what this concept entails. It is into this deficit that this study ventures, through an analysis of historical and contemporary Afrikaner self-determination aspirations and the conditions under which it exist. The research question this study investigates is whether the phenomenon of national self-determination can be identified in historical and contemporary Afrikanerdom, and what the broad trends and developments in Afrikaner self-determination aspirations are, as represented by key Afrikaner activists and organisations. In order to begin addressing this research problem it is first and foremost necessary to understand what national self-determination is, and what factors are conducive towards its emergence and/or decline. As will be shown, national self-determination is a chameleonic right that seeks to establish an independent domain of political control – in various forms. On the factors conducive towards the phenomenon’s emergence and/or decline, this analysis points toward discontent within deeply divided societies under democratic forms of governance that may accentuate these divides instead of bridging them – most notably majoritarianism – while other forms of democratic systems – such as consociationalism – may induce the opposite. Secondly, it is necessary to establish what, if any, are the broad trends and developments of Afrikaner self-determination efforts in an historical context. As will be made clear, the phenomenon of self-determination runs like a golden thread throughout Afrikaner history, from the anti-imperial and republican Afrikaner self-determination efforts of the nineteenth century to those in the twentieth century that mobilised Afrikaner Nationalism and the policy of apartheid to protect Afrikaner autonomy by denying others the same right. Thirdly, and closely linked with the former, a review of the broad manifestations of contemporary Afrikaner self-determination discourse and action as presented by key self-determination activists and organisations was undertaken, in conjunction with the factors which contribute to action in this regard. Here it was shown that Afrikaner self-determination is alive and well in South Africa, with Afrikaner centric organisations seeking the establishment of greater internal self-determination while not denying the possibility of grand self-determination – or the consideration of Afrikaner independence – in the future. Moreover, this analysis proposes that deep rifts within South African society – further worsened by the non-accommodation of majoritarianism and the resultant sense of political impotency – creates the conditions necessary to further Afrikaner action in this regard. Yet this need not be so. Indeed, there are alternatives to the attainment of Afrikaner self-determination on a grand scale, and none appear more promising than the group accommodation sought by consociationalist forms of democratic governance.