Browsing by Author "Wardle, Amy Leigh"
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- ItemLiberation movements and the political opposition in democracies : the case of the ANC in South Africa's democracy(Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University, 2020-03) Wardle, Amy Leigh; De Jager, Nicola; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Political Science.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The topic of democratic consolidation has become an important field of study, particularly in developing states with national liberation movements (NLM) turned government. These liberation movements originally fought against authoritarian regimes in the hopes of implementing a democratic regime. Once the conversion to a democratic regime has occurred and during the subsequent electoral process, the NLM usually becomes the ruling party. The way in which these NLM governments view political opposition has a crucial impact on the prospects for democratic consolidation, as political opposition (and therefore electoral contestation and choice), is one of the key recognised foundations of a democratic regime. This thesis intended to answer: How does the African National Congress (ANC), as a core contributor of South Africa’s NLM and the incumbent ruling party, view political opposition in a democratic regime, and why? This was achieved with a case study design and qualitative research approach. Using ATLAS.ti key terms were coded and the party’s language, within their Strategy and Tactics (S&T) documents from 1997 to 2017, was analysed. Key terms were drawn out from the understanding of political opposition as an important institutional foundation for democratic consolidation (to answer the first part of the question) and the three main ideological strands found within the party, which were expected to influence the ANC’s view, namely, liberalism, communism, and Africanism (to answer the second part of the question). The findings revealed that the ANC is subject to a mixture of ideological influences that inform its view of political opposition and inadvertently of itself in a democratic setting. Of note was the term ‘vanguard’, which was most prevalent in all S&T documents throughout the period analysed. The term, associated with Leninism, infers that the ANC sees only itself as qualified to lead South Africa and implies that opposition parties are hostile to the ANC’s transformation project in the South African context. This communist ideology came to influence the ANC in the 1960s during its liberation history. And, as is evident from the analysis, remains influential. However, the investigation showed that this was not the only ideology to influence the ANC’s view of political parties, as the endorsement of liberal values and thus the need for pluralism and multi-parties was also strongly evident. These different ideological influences thus continue to contend for the ANC’s view of opposition and itself in a democratic setting. Even so, the vanguard-view as an antagonistic approach towards political opposition in a democratic regime remains an obstacle to South Africa’s democratic consolidation.