M.A. (Political Studies) / The Afrikaner had a gradual development as a "value-oriented society" and "siege culture" on the Cape eastern frontier from the eighteenth century onwards. Eventually they developed into a nation with its own features, values and philosophy of life. In times of crisis these values were emphasised and became the centre around which "the nation" was united. The Afrikaner can be seen as a "value-oriented society" and the values were represented by the National Party (NP) as leading political party for a long time. The Afrikaner felt culturally threatened and by 1948 this lead to a "siege culture". The NP took part in the 1948 general election and came into power with "apartheid" as policy or ideology and was therefore a "closed belief system". The split in the NP (and therefore in Afrikaner nationalism) lead to the forming of the Conservative Party (CP) in 1982. The purpose of this dissertation is to show that the CP, similar to the NP, developed from a "value-oriented movement" into a "siege culture segment" and eventually into a "closed belief system". To achieve this goal the following aspects were investigated : Factors which caused the split in the NP, the founding of the CP and its role in South African politics. The emphasis, however, is on the CP's participation and performance in the general election of 1987. In the late seventies and early eighties the governing NP moved away from its ideology of "apartheid" and initiated a process of integration. Through this the NP necessarily deserted a significant part of the Afrikaner nation politically and economically. Given unfavourable economical and political conditions, this segment of the Afrikaner felt threatened by extreme black nationalism, the so-called liberalism of the NP and various external factors. The CP was founded with traditional Afrikaner values such as religion, language and purity of race as basis and developed from a "value-oriented movement" into a "siege culture segment" due to the factors mentioned. The CP presented an ideology of partition for its first participation in a general election (that of 1987). Partition as "closed belief system" became the slogan of the CP in the 1987 general election. Since its foundation, the CP tried to take over the Afrikaner symbols which were originally articulated and represented by the NP. The CP only partially succeeded in this, since the Afrikaner is politically divided between the NP and the CP. The NP and CP both try to secure the overall survival of the Afrikaner by integration and partition respectively. This political disunity among Afrikaners was evident from the results of the 1987 general election.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Race has been used as an instrument of domination and separation of the South African population for a long time. The dawn of the democratic dispensation in 1994marked a shift from the policy of racial separation to the creation of the non-racial democratic South Africa. However, political parties in this country have constantly re-politicised race in the post apartheid era mainly for political gain. The purpose of this study will be to describe, explain and analyse how political parties in South Africa use the crisis in Zimbabwe to racialise politics in this country. The study will show that the dilemma facing political parties in South Africa is that they cannot avoid focusing on racial issues. The focus is on four main political parties, the ANC, the PAC, the NNP and the DA. The study specifically looked at the following issues in Zimbabwe: the Land crisis, the 2003 March presidential elections and the economic crisis to see how they have influenced political discourse in South Africa. As anticipated, predominantly black parties have shown some empathy with Robert Mugabe's government, while predominantly white parties have called for a more confrontational measure against Mugabe's government. Nonetheless, this study found no conclusive evidence to suggest that the crisis in Zimbabwe has fuelled race conflict in this country. But that race is politicised by parties in South Africa for political gain. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In Apartheld-Suid-Afrika was rasse verskille gebruik as 'n instrument van onderdrukking en skeiding van die bevolking. Met die totstandkoming van demokrasie in 1994 het 'n verskuiwing van 'n rasse-beleid na 'n nie-rassige, demokratiese Suid-Afrika gelei. Politieke partye politiseer egter steeds ras in post-Apartheid Suid-Afrika vir politieke gewin. Die doel van hierdie studie is om te beskryf, verduidelik en te analiseer hoe politieke partye die krisis in Zimbabwe gebruik om politiek in Suid-Afrika steeds gebonde ras te hou. Hierdie studis al aandui dat politieke partye in Suid-Afrika nie die fokus van ras identiteite kan vermy nie. 'n Moontlike rede hiervoor is dat politieke partye in Suid-Afrika 'nsolidariteit met hul kiesers wil behou. Die studie fokus op vier van die mees prominente politieke partye in Suid-Afrika naamlik: ANC, PAC, NNP en die DA. Om elke party se stand-punt op hierdie onderwerp te verstaan, gaan die studie fokus op die volgende punte in Zimbabwe: grondhervorming, die 2003Presidensiële verkiesing en die impak wat die ekonomiese krisis in Zimbabwe op die politieke gebied gehad het. Soos verwag, het partye met histories oorheersende swart oortuigings empatie met Robert Mugabe se regering betoon. Mugabe word gesien as 'n slagoffer van onsimpatieke wit settelaars wat vasklou aan hul eertydse voorregte. Terwyloorwegende wit partye vra vir strenger optrede teenoor die regering van Robert Mugabe. Nie te min, het hierdie studie geen uitsluitende bewyse gevind wat aandui dat die krisis in Zimbabwe konflik rasse in Suid- Afrika aangespoor het nie. Dit is egter belangrik om in ag te neem dat die politisering van ras grootliks deur partye gebruik word om ondersteuning te werf.

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the partial requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand Department of African Literature, March 2017 / XL2018

No description available.

Thesis (M.A.)--Rhodes University, 1991. / Facsimile. "Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ART of Rhodes University." Includes bibliographical references.

Two of the post apartheid elections held in South Africa (1994, 1999) have been used as mechanisms to analyse and assess the extent to which the country’s transition from apartheid to a democratic dispensation is succeeding or not. The primary analytical focus of the 1994 and 1999 elections has revolved around the nature of the party system and voting behaviour. Basically, contestation has arisen over two primary and related issues: the dominance of the African National Congress (ANC) weighed against the weakness of opposition parties and the implications that this development has for effective democratic consolidation. Also, whether voting decisions based on divisive racial and ethnic identities that underlie electoral contests are pervasive enough to derail the process of democratisation. Generally, the primary conclusion has been that the unfolding pattern of South African electoral politics indicates sufficient grounds on which to doubt the prospects for effective democratic consolidation. This dissertation engages these debates with particular reference to the 2004 elections. In contrast to this pessimistic view of the prospects of successful democratisation in South Africa it upholds through an analysis of the 2004 elections the view that there is insufficient empirical evidence, to conclude that South Africa’s democratisation process is imperiled. It maintains that although there are problems related to the to the nature of the party system and some elements of voting behaviour there is enough countervailing evidence revealed by the 2004 election results that this does not present a substantially serious threat to the prospects of South Africa attaining a democratic society.

M.A. (Historical Studies) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Kenya and South Africa can be described as dominant party systems, under the dominance of the Kenya African National Union CKANU) and the African National Congress CANC) respectively. A dominant party system is in essence a democracy. The spirit of democracy may, however, apparently be contradicted by the weight of party dominance, thus questioning the content of and prospects for democracy under party dominance in both Kenya and South Africa. The study is a comparative analysis of party dominance in Kenya and South Africa. The main objective is to exan1ine the relationship between party dominance and democracy in both countries. It seeks to find out how party dominance is reproducing itself and surviving the post 1990 transition processes in Kenya and South Africa. More importantly, the study also seeks to find out how party dominance impacts upon institutions that support or uphold democratization and subsequently democracy. The findings of the study demonstrate that party dominance has reproduced itself and survived the post-1990 period, and is also impacting upon democratization and democracy. The dominant parties take a similar trajectory in pursuit of dominance over the state and its apparatuses. However, they differ when it comes to their relationship with the civil society. That between KANU and civil society is antagonistic, as the ruling party seeks to augment political power through authoritarian dominance of the latter to, while that of the ANC and civil society is responsive, as the former seeks to enhance political stability in the country. The impact of party dominance upon institutions that support democracy takes similar and different trajectories in both countries. Similarities arise with respect to the detrimental impact upon institutions of the Executive that ensure accountability and transparency, evident in the increasing cases of corruption, nepotism and political patronage appointments. Similarly, there has been a detrimental impact upon the Legislature regarding parliamentary proceedings. Parliamentary committees and opposition parties are being rendered ineffective as organs of ensuring transparency and accountability, and are often subject to delegitimation. The impact of party dominance on the Judiciary, however, differs in both countries. In Kenya, the judiciary continues to suffer from excessive interference from the Executive and the ruling party, whereas in South Africa the judicial system remains largely independent with regard to the application of justice, despite constant criticisms from the dominant party. The study concludes that South Africa is, gradually, going the Kenyan way. If this condition is left unchecked there is the possibility that South Africa could eventually end up a psuedo-democracy like Kenya, where formal democratic political institutions such as multiparty elections, exist to mask the reality of authoritarian dominance. The thesis recommends that strengthening civil society organizations, opposition political parties, and state institutions in both countries to ensure greater accountability and transparency, will reverse this detrimental effect of party dominance. It also recommends meaningful constitutional reforms that will guarantee greater independence of these institutions, and the decentralization of governmental and political power to check and limit the powers of the dominant party. Also recommended are areas for further research. / KMBT_363 / Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in

Environmental and green politics came into prominance during the last two decades. These two concepts, as well as environmentalism and ecologism are defined in this study and placed within the context of the political system. The emphasis is on green politics and ecologism. The global green movement is analysed according to policy, organisational structures and pattern of development. The South African environmental and green movements are described in the latter part of the study. It is shown that South Africa has a long history of environmentalism. The South African green movement is compared with the global green movement after which it is placed within the context of the South African political system. Green politics in South Africa seems to resemble the early stages of the development of the European movement and the concept of social justice is emphasised. Selected Western Cape groups are discussed according to information gathered by means of a questionnaire. / Political Science / M.A. (Political Science)

All 1996 parliamentary speeches of two members from each of three parties represented in the South African parliament were coded for the extent to which they demonstrated integrative complexity, a measure of the level of differentiation and integration which a decision-maker demonstrates in justifying his or her position. Each of the selected debates was also categorised according to the manner in which the speaker was aligned in relation to other parties taking part in the debate and the extent to which the matter had been aired in parliament previously. The relationship between the level of integrative complexity shown in the speeches was assessed in relation to the alignment of the speaker with other parties, the extent to which the debate had been rehearsed and the position f the speaker on the left-right political spectrum. The results of the study indicated a strong relationship between the relationship of the speaker to the ruling ANC in the debate, with speakers showing significantly lower integrative complexity when opposing the ANC than when they were in agreement with the ANC. The extent to which the debate had been rehearsed bore a relationship to integrative complexity which only approached significance and the political affiliation of the speaker yielded a non-significant relationship to integrative complexity. The results of the study are discussed with reference to existing theoretical understandings of and research into integrative complexity. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1999.