Doctoral Degrees (Political Science)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Political Science) by Subject "Conservation"

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    A comparative study of the role of environmental NGO's in China and South Africa in conservation policy
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2017-12) Burgess, Meryl; Cornelissen, Scarlett; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Political Science.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study explores the roles of environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in conservation policy in two different political systems, one authoritarian (China) and the other a pluralist political system (South Africa). The study takes stock of the broader literature and debates on governance, participation and new institutional arrangements whereby private actors and civil society can have input into policy-making. Based on this, the study demonstrates that civil society and NGOs can fulfil various roles and undertake numerous functions in order to have an impact on the policy process. These roles can be categorised as essentially three: (1) In the supplementary model, NGOs fulfil the demand for public goods not satisfied by government; (2) In the complementary view, NGOs partner with government; they help with the delivery of public goods which are largely financed by the government; (3) In the adversarial view, NGOs prod government to make changes in public policy and to maintain public accountability (Young, 2000). A number of factors can determine the potential for NGOs to participate in policy-making and further influence the process when operating in terms of these roles. These factors include the size of the NGO‘s membership; cohesiveness, skill and social status; as well its financial and other resources. Similarly, the attitudes of public officials towards the NGO as well as the site of decision-making in the political system can also factor into NGO engagement in policy-making. The political system impacts on these factors, but does not as such preclude any of the three listed roles for environmental NGOs. This study shows that, in the field of conservation policy-making, environmental NGOs in both South Africa and China play all three roles in the political systems, as described in literature. It emerges that NGOs are active as playing roles supplementary and complementary to those of the state, and – somewhat contrary to expectations – also an adversarial role. South Africa‘s policy process is open to public participation at all levels of government. Formal and informal institutional arrangements are accessible for NGOs to play a role in policy-making. China‘s policy process on the other hand has few formal institutional arrangements for public participation; hence NGOs have limited roles to play in policy-making. Consequently, most NGOs in China use informal arrangements to participate in policy-making. In addition, this study shows that South African environmental NGOs contribute to fulfilling democratic ideals by performing all three roles, specifically challenging and holding government accountable. However, most NGOs in fact prefer to carry out mainly the complementary and supplementary roles, but are prepared to hold government accountable where and when this is necessary. In contrast, China‘s environmental NGOs are not attempting to contribute towards maintaining authoritarian settings but are forced to play a more narrowly defined role. NGOs are forced to fulfil roles and functions within the system‗s limitations and the government's control.