A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology. 2016 / This thesis focuses on the everyday operation of the African National Congress (ANC) as a dominant party in post-apartheid South Africa. It examines the scope of intraparty politics, particularly the trajectory of factionalism in ANC local structures after 1994. Despite the dominance of the ANC in South Africa’s political field, its more recent political trajectory most particularly since it became a party of government in 1994 is much less well understood (Butler and Southall 2015: 1). The party has traditionally been studied using a top-down perspective and with a focus on elite level exchanges in which dynamics at the national level are viewed to reverberate downwards whilst drawing on information from party leaders. The contribution made by this thesis is that it offers a detailed qualitative focus on the operation of ANC intraparty politics at a local level drawing on evidence from Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. The overriding aim of this study which is informed by theoretical expositions on the dominant party approach and on patronage and clientelism, is to understand how factionalism in the ANC has evolved in the post-apartheid era. The thesis observes that the ANC’s political dominance after 1994 saw the gradual conflation of the party and state partly through two processes related the party’s transformative agenda. Firstly, the state itself had to be transformed to reflect the demographic composition of the country and for the most part the ANC deployed its cadres into the state who could tow the party line. Secondly, the party relied on the state as a vehicle for redistribution and the transformation of the broader political economy to achieve equity and growth. Hence black economic empowerment, state preferential procurement and other policies to uplift previously disadvantaged social groups became stepping stones for the emergent African middle and upper class. Whilst these processes transformed the state, they also fundamentally transformed the party itself as it became a site of accumulation. Intraparty contestation intensified over the limited opportunities for upward mobility provided by access to the state. The thesis argues that factionalism increasingly became characterised by patronage as competing groups within the party sought to ring-fence their political power and the opportunities for upward mobility provided by the state. This was also compounded by deepening neoliberalism whose consequences of unemployment, poverty and inequality especially at the local level led to increased dependence on the local state and the development of factionalism based on patronage politics. The thesis then explores how patronage operates in everyday practice at the local level. It shows how patron-client relationships are not merely the exchange of state resources for political support but rather they embody a field of power relations (Auyero 2001). Evidence from Buffalo City offers an important insight into how patronage exchanges are preceded by complex relationships of power that are established over time and through various enactments. The thesis demonstrates how patrons, brokers and clients exercise various forms of power every day that inform inclusion or exclusion into networks for distributing scarce state resources. It challenges views that regard factionalism and patronage as elite driven practices. / MT2017

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Political Studies, 2016 / The emergence of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) as a new and ‘radical’ political party significantly altered the shape of the political landscape in South Africa. As one of the starting points in this paper, I show how the EFF comes out of a history in the ANCYL before turning attention to public discussions on the organisation. These contemporary debates about the EFF have taken numerous forms, oftentimes in deeply polarised ways - from those who argue that the EFF is pejoratively populist or fascist to arguments that the party is a crucial left alternative. Within the context of these debates, this research paper grapples with the question of the political character of the EFF, ultimately arguing that the EFF is populist. I use, however, a framework for populism set out by Ernesto Laclau thus marking a break with most discussions on the EFF that are often theoretically limited. This research works with both the empirical and the theoretical – in doing this I utilise Michael Burawoy’s ‘extended case method’ to ground the discussion and to provide a method that encompasses the field research – I used semi-structured interviews and participant observation – with a theoretical inquiry. This research is based on the Marikana Branch of the EFF, in the North West Province. In using data from respondents, a number of conclusions about the EFF in Marikana are drawn out around the membership base of the EFF, organisational structures, the relations with other organisations as well as the class, gender and age substance of the party. These conclusions partly stand on their own in building an understanding of the EFF. They are also used in a central discussion around populism in the EFF and the building of a collective political subjectivity that is premised on the popular. In this way, this research works on two interlinked levels that feed into answering questions around the EFF as a new political formation. In line with Burawoy’s method that is used throughout this research, I also outline some of the key limitations of using Laclau’s theory of populism in understanding the EFF and how we move from these limitations through the work presented around the Marikana Branch. / MT2017

The general debate around political advertising on television has been that the political advertisements on television concentrate more on the images rather than the political issues and thus, create an electorate who is entertained by the catchy slogans and this hinders a well informed decision. The study investigates the rise of political advertising on television in South Africa and its implications for democracy. It is focused on the 2009 pre-elections and specifically on the political advertisements which appeared on national television during the pre-election period beginning from 30th March 2009 up until 20th April 2009. The study also examines the extent to which political advertisements on television commodify politics. Furthermore, it explores the themes covered in the political advertisements on television and the extent to which these political advertisements focus on the images than the themes. In addition, the study also looks into the underlying issues and complexities, such as regulation and funding and financing issues which are hidden from the public glare, accompanying the images and messages seen on television around election time. Qualitative methods are used and the study is both descriptive and explorative and as means of interpreting the data, thematic content analysis is used. The critical political economy of the media theory is employed as well as the democratic theories of the media, with a key focus on liberal democracy and deliberative democracy. Thus the findings showed that the political advertisements on television in South Africa were informative as they concentrated more on the themes than the images and, in many instances where the images were used it was mainly to support the message. However, the political advertisements had some emotional appeals which communicated emotions of sadness and despair as well as emotions of happiness and success. Character appeals were used at minimum and it was only three political parties which made use of their leaders with only one political party, out of the three, using their leader throughout the advertisement. The issue of commodity in politics was very prominent in the political advertisements on television thus it can be concluded that political advertising on television commodify politics to a large extent in the production and distribution process but to a minimum extent in the content. The implications of the rise of political advertising on television for democracy are twofold because they are both positive and negative. It is recommended that the regulations on political advertising on television be re-visited and reviewed. Thus, a prospective model for the regulation of political advertising on television is also illustrated in the study.

- 145 - Abstract Role of the Parliamentary Party Groups in the Constitutional system of the Czech Republic The ultimate goal of my work was to fill in the blank spaces on the map of the Constitutional system of the Czech Republic by thorough examination and detailed description of the role and the status of the parliamentary party groups (PPGs) in it. However, this thesis is not just a general introduction, but a complex study of the actors of such importance and influence that it keeps one wondering, why they had remained out of a scope of the mainstream scientific research in our country for so long. After the necessary theoretical introduction to the subject of the parliamentary party groups within the field of the legal and political sciences, I examined the existence of the PPGs within the Chamber of Deputies, their relationships, interdependence and interconnections with the political parties and finally their inner functioning in close detail. It was necessary to deal with a number of serious issues and answer several important questions during my research, most notably: the question of the nature of the parliamentary party groups, i.e. whether they are bodies of the Chamber of Deputies, bodies of the political parties or whether they even possess their own legal personality. It was necessary to deal...

This theses deals with analysis of cases that were held mainly before the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Administrative Court of the Czech Republic with regard to the election process and political parties. It focuses mainly on the analysis of topics that are often criticised by small political parties as harmful to the free and fair election process. Specifically, these topics include election threshold, setting electoral districts, methods for allocating seats, subsidising political parties from the national budget, financial restrictions on candidacy, and access to media. The thesis briefly summarizes relevant theoretical premises, which is followed be presenting the bases of criticism of the specific institutes, and finally the courts' opinions are analysed as well. With each of the institute, the main goal of the theses is to show how the courts interpret them. Specifically, it focuses on finding a line between what courts still deem acceptable, and what is perceived by them as too damaging to the fair and free election process.

I analyse whether coalitions consisting of one or several parties from both political blocs have a causal effect on the following election results of the Sweden Democrats using election data. I find that, when the largest bloc is unable to reach a seat majority in a municipal assembly and forms a coalition with one or several parties from the other bloc, the Sweden Democrats increase their municipal vote share by on average 11.71 percentage points the following election. I interpret the result as support for the view that Swedish voters punish the established parties when they are perceived as becoming more similar in terms of policy and ideology. Moreover, my results show that the effect is only significant in municipalities where no small and/or local parties exist, indicating that the largest bloc in many municipalities prefer to form a coalition with these parties when the opportunity exists.

O presente estudo versa sobre os embates, surgidos a partir da adoção da Lei Fundamental do Império, acerca dos poderes constitucionais e seu impacto sobre a articulação das forças políticas regionais. Acompanhou-se o surgimento, o desenvolvimento, e a tentativa de perpetuação no tempo dos grupos políticos que, disputando os assentos da Assembléia Geral, desejavam moldar Estado e Nação conforme seus interesses. O enfoque foi a Província de Minas Gerais, que ocupava o maior número de assentos na Assembléia Geral, escolhendo-se, como baliza temporal, sua 1ª Legislatura. Parte-se da tese que a interpretação dada à Lei Fundamental do Império foi um importante elemento a determinar as diferenciações identitárias, bem como a composição das alianças que, no interior da Província e da Assembléia Geral, disputavam o mando sobre o Império. / This study concerns the clashes that emerged after the adoption of the Imperial Constitution regarding the constitutional powers, and its impact on the articulation of the regional political forces. It analyzes the origin, the development, and the attempts of self-perpetuation of the political groups that, disputing the seats of the General Assembly, intended to shape the State and the Nation according to their own interests. The focus was the Province of Minas Gerais, which had the largest number of seats on the General Assembly, and the period chosen was its 1st Legislature. The study relies on the thesis that the interpretation of the Imperial Constitution was an important element determining the identitary differentiations, as well as the composition of alliances that, within the Province and the General Assembly, disputed the rule over the Empire.

As mulheres são a maioria do eleitorado brasileiro, quase metade da/os filiados a algum partido político e, mesmo com a lei de cotas de gênero que obriga o registro de pelo menos 30% de candidaturas femininas, elas ainda perfazem pouco mais de 10% da/os eleita/os. A literatura aponta diversas barreiras para essas mulheres, como o processo de socialização voltado para a esfera privada da vida, uma suposta falta de interesse em seguir uma carreira política e a falta de recursos para conduzir uma campanha eleitoral. Analisando a trajetória das vereadoras eleitas nas eleições municipais de 2016 da cidade de São Paulo, esse trabalho investiga quais foram os meios encontrados ou utilizados pelas candidatas para superar estes obstáculos comumente impostos às mulheres, com um interesse específico e investigar a atuação dos partidos e lideranças partidárias no fomento ou bloqueio desse caminho até a vitória. Utilizando principalmente entrevistas em profundidade com as vereadoras, a dissertação percorre o momento do primeiro envolvimento político, da decisão da candidatura e a campanha eleitoral para ponderar, à luz das teorias e evidências acumuladas pela literatura sobre cada um desses estágios, a narrativa dessas mulheres sobre o seu sucesso eleitoral e os dados empíricos disponíveis sobre sua candidatura e campanha. O questionamento comum feito em cada uma dessas etapas de suas carreiras é o quanto a organização e as lideranças partidárias atuaram, direta ou indiretamente, para tornar efetiva a participação e o sucesso eleitoral destas candidatas; ao mesmo tempo, ponderar o quanto e como essas mulheres se aproveitaram, se utilizaram ou criaram oportunidades para participar. Os resultados apontam que, embora nem sempre estejam presentes nas primeiras atividades políticas das vereadoras, o partido político e suas lideranças muitas vezes, na figura de familiares das candidatas aparecem de forma decisiva no momento da decisão da candidatura e no suporte ao longo da campanha eleitoral, especialmente por darem legitimidade e o acesso às redes de contato com outras figuras políticas já bem estabelecidas. Com esses indícios, é possível questionar a crença de que os partidos não têm relevância ou influência na arena eleitoral e na baixa representação feminina em cargos eletivos, bem como requalificar os argumentos e propostas pela maior inclusão de mulheres na política. / Women are the majority of the Brazilian electorate, almost half of the members of political parties, and even with the gender quotas law obliging the party list to have at least 30% female candidates, they still make up around 10% of the elected representatives to the Chamber of Deputies. The literature on this issue lists several barriers for these women, such as the socialization process focused on the private sphere of life, their supposed lack of interest in pursuing a political career and the lack of resources to conduct an electoral campaign. Analyzing the trajectory of city councilors elected in the municipal elections of 2016 in the city of São Paulo, this work investigates the ways candidates found to overcome these commonly imposed obstacles on women, with special interest in the political parties and partisan leadership presence in encouraging or dissuading their political career. Based mostly on in-depth interviews with female city council members, this dissertation describes their trajectory, from their first political involvement, going through the decision to run for office up until electoral campaigning to investigate how the narrative of these women about their electoral success and available data resonate with theories and evidences from previous studies about each of these stages. The main question asked is how much the party organization and its leaders have influenced, directly or indirectly, to make the candidature and success of these candidates effective; at the same time, I try to consider how and when these women have created or taken advantage of opportunities to run for - and win - elections. Results show that, although political parties are not always present in these womens first political activities, the party organization and its leaderships - often as a family member of the candidate have a crucial role in the decision to run and at the support throughout the electoral campaign, especially providing legitimacy and access to networks with other wellestablished political figures. With these results, it is possible to question the established notion that Brazilian political parties have no relevance or influence in the electoral arena and in womens sub representation, as well as to reassess the arguments and proposals for improving women\'s political participation.

Esta tese analisa os fatores que afetam as escolhas dos governos subnacionais com relação à provisão de serviços públicos na federação brasileira, tomando como objeto empírico de análise o crescimento da municipalização do ensino fundamental no país (1997-2006). A interpretação dominante sobre a municipalização no Brasil aponta o Fundef, uma norma aprovada pelo governo federal, como o único fator explicativo desse resultado. A razão para isto é que as regras desta norma federal passam a atrelar o atendimento de alunos à receitas orçamentárias, o que teria despertado o interesse dos municípios em ampliar suas redes de ensino. No entanto, esta tese demonstra que o Fundef não é um fator suficiente para explicar nem a municipalização, nem a grande variação nos graus de municipalização verificados nos estados, bem como um número significativo de municípios paulistas que, mesmo com os incentivos do Fundef, optaram por não aumentar o atendimento municipal. Esse resultado só pode ser explicado por um conjunto de fatores que incluem outras regras federais e estaduais, a situação das contas públicas no momento da implementação do Fundef, o patamar inicial das matrículas, o partido político de governadores e prefeitos e outras variáveis de contexto local, como disponibilidade orçamentária e aspectos demográficos. As principais conclusões desta tese são: 1) o interesse dos governos estaduais em transferir o atendimento para seus municípios é o fator mais importante para explicar a municipalização e 2) quando este interesse se consubstancia em programas estaduais de municipalização, com incentivos adicionais ao Fundef, esses se tornam o principal fator explicativo da variação observada. / This thesis analyses the factors which explain the choices of subnational governments concerning the provision of public policies in the Brazilian federation. As a means of empirical testing, the decentralization of primary education from the states to municipalities, between 1997 and 2006, is taken as an object of study. The predominant interpretation on this matter points to the approval of a federal norm, known as Fundef, as the sole factor explaining decentralization. The reason for this interpretation is that the norm links the number of students being attended to the distribution of revenues, therefore, motivating city mayors to expand their school systems. However, this thesis shows that Fundef is not a sufficient factor to explain neither the decentralization nor the variation observed in the levels of decentralization among Brazilian states. Furthermore, an analysis of the choices made by municipalities in the state of São Paulo reveals that a significant number of them decided not to increase their school systems after the approval of the federal norm. All these results can only be explained when a set of other factors are incorporated into the analysis. Relevant factors are shown to be: other federal and state-level institutional rules, the situation of public finances at the time of Fundef\'s implementation, the initial level of student\'s enrolment, the political party of governors and mayors, and other specific, local variables, such as the availability of budget resources and demographic aspects. The two main conclusions of this thesis are: 1) the interest of state governments to transfer the responsibility of primary schools to their municipalities is the most important factor that explains successful decentralization and 2) when this interest is transformed into state programs with extra incentives to further decentralization, these become the main factor that explains the observed variation.

Nos fins do século XIX, Eduard Bernstein causou grande espanto e turbulência no interior da social-democracia alemã ao refutar publicamente as teses oficiais propugnadas pelos líderes do partido e, ao mesmo tempo, propor a revisão crítica do pensamento de Marx, desferindo sérios ataques ao que considerava seu elemento \"nefasto\": a dialética hegeliana. Ao defender a rejeição da filosofia da história marxiana - considerada obstáculo ao conhecimento científico da realidade social - Bernstein rompe com a perspectiva revolucionária, aderindo a um reformismo evolucionista. Acreditando no potencial emancipador da democracia burguesa, que tornaria possível a tomada do poder por meios legais e pacíficos, Bernstein passa a sustentar a adoção de uma postura política conciliatória e a mitigação da luta de classes. O surgimento desta corrente revisionista deu início a um grande cisma no interior da social-democracia que veio a ser considerado como \"a primeira crise do marxismo\", introduzindo uma nova tendência de rechaço à concepção dialética da história e de abdicação de quaisquer pretensões revolucionárias. Estas idéias viriam a tornar-se hegemônicas no final do século XX, quando as teses que apregoam o \"fim da história\" são amplamente difundidas e festejadas. Diante deste novo refluxo das teorias e práticas revolucionárias, torna-se fundamental a análise minuciosa do fenômeno revisionista - o contexto em que surge, as razões de seu sucesso no âmbito da esquerda e as críticas que podem lhe ser opostas / In the end of the nineteenth century, Eduard Bernstein caused great turbulence in the German social democracy when he publicly opposed to the official theses of the leaders of the Social Democratic Party and, at the same time, recommended a critical revision of Marx\'s thought, making serious attacks on what he considered its most hideous element: the Hegelian dialectics. While supporting the total rejection of the Marxian philosophy of history - regarded as an obstacle to the scientific knowledge of the social reality - Bernstein breaks up with the revolutionary perspective, joining an evolutionary reformism. Relying in the emancipatory potential of the bourgeois democracy, that would make possible the achievement of power through legal and pacific means, Bernstein sustained a conciliatory political posture and the softening of the class struggle. The appearance of such revisionist tendency gave birth to a schism inside social democracy that was further known as \"the first crisis of Marxism\", as it excluded the dialectical conception of history and the revolutionary aim. These ideas became hegemonic at the end of the twentieth century, when theses proclaiming \"the end of history\" were widely spread. In face of the new reflux of the revolutionary praxis, the analysis of the revisionist phenomenon - the context in which it appears, the reason for its success and the critics opposed to it - becomes crucial