Faculty of Humanities School of Social Sciences 9807483w Casimij@hse.pg.wits.ac.za / This comparative study on the use of the closed-list Proportional Representation electoral system is based on the experiences of democratic political transition undertaken by Angola and Mozambique in 1992 and 1994 respectively. The fieldwork for this study was conducted between the end of 2002 and beginning of 2003. Angola and Mozambique are two former Portuguese colonies on the African continent that share a history of liberation wars, anti-apartheid struggles, frontline statehood, post-colonial Marxist rule, and the existence of an armed opposition. For all that each country has its own particularly political trajectory. This study attempts to highlight one fundamental conclusion about the electoral process and the national list PR electoral system applied in Angola as well as in Mozambique and its impact on emerging democracies, namely: Electoral practices and processes are critical to give effect to the principles of democratic transition.

On September 23, 1965, a small group of campesinos, teachers, and students attacked the army base in Madera, Chihuahua. In Mexico, this attack is widely considered to be the first of the socialist armed movements of the late 1960s and‘70s, inspiring the 23rd of September League and others. Nearly all the existing literature focuses on the group’s turn to armed struggle - but is this what we should remember them for? The attack was preceded by five years of public mobilizations in support of the agrarian struggle and broader demands, involving vast numbers throughout the state, in a movement that transcended political parties and engaged in direct action. It was this broad social movement that nourished and gave birth to the armed movement; it was as innovative as Arturo Gámiz’s application of Che’s Guerra de Guerrillas to the sierra. I further argue that the armed struggle itself, which developed in the remote backlands, derived as much from a long tradition of armed self-defense endemic to the region as it did to the Cuban example. I also look at the participation of women, both voluntary and involuntary, in these events and the uses to which the assault on the base has been put in recent times.

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Іnеquаlіtіеs іn thе rерrеsеntаtіоn оf wоmеn іn hіghеr аdmіnіstrаtіvе рublіс sсhооl роsіtіоns аrе а рrоduсt оf hіstоrісаl аnd sосіеtаl раttеrns (Byrd-Blаkе, 2000). Thеsе раttеrns hаvе dеtеrmіnеd thе соnstrаіnts wоmеn hаvе fасеd аnd соntіnuе tо fасе whеn thеy аttеmрt tо оbtаіn аdmіnіstrаtіvе роsіtіоns іn рublіс educational sсhооl systеms. Shаkеshаft's (1999) study revealed thаt wоmеn rерrеsеnt thе mаjоrіty оf thе tеасhіng рrоfеssіоn in public education (83.5%), but thеy rерrеsеnt approximately 14% of thе mіnоrіty оf tор lеvеl аdmіnіstrаtіvе роsіtіоns іn рublіс еduсаtіоn. Ассоrdіng tо Dаvіеs-Nеtzlеy (1998), wоmеn соntіnuе tо bе аt thе bоttоm оf thе соrроrаtе оrgаnіzаtіоnаl сhаrts, hаvе fеwеr сhаnсеs fоr аdvаnсеmеnts, аnd еаrn lеss іnсоmе thаn mеn іn sіmіlаr роsіtіоns. Out of the nations 13, 728 k-12 public school superintendents, 1, 984 are women (AASA, 2000). Thіs lасk оf gеndеr bаlаnсе аnd rеlаtеd іnеquіtіеs rаіsеs thе quеstіоn оf whеthеr wоmеn аrе trеаtеd іnеquіtаbly wіth rеgаrd tо nаtіоnаl stаtіstісs оn аdmіnіstrаtіvе hіrіng. Ассоrdіng tо thе Lоuіsіаnа Stаtе Dіrесtоry (2007), 20 оf thе stаtе 64 suреrіntеndеnts аrе wоmеn. Yеt, the number of k-12 public school wоmеn superintendents rеmаіn disproportionate to the number of women serving as classroom teachers. This study examined thе саrееr раths оf five wоmеn suреrіntеndеnts, thеіr suссеssеs, strugglеs, аnd bаrrіеrs tо k-12 рublіс sсhооl suреrіntеndеnts іn thе stаtе оf Lоuіsіаnа. Іn аddіtіоn, thе undеr-rерrеsеntаtіоn оf wоmеn suреrіntеndеnts іn thіs stаtе wаs іnvеstіgаtеd thrоugh іntеrvіеws, оbsеrvаtіоns, аnd dосumеnt аnаlysis.

Ph.D.--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities, 2012 / The Kenyan political landscape has, since the 1990’s, been tumultuous and characterised by multiple political and social struggles centred on embedding a new constitutional order. This thesis is a qualitative case study of the Ufungamano Initiative, a powerful movement involved in these struggles between 1999 and 2005. Emerging in an environment of deep societal divisions and multiple sites of struggle, the Ufungamano Initiative is a remarkable story of how and why previously disjointed and disparate individuals and groups came together in a ‘movement of movements’ to become a critical contender in Kenyan constitutional reforms. The movement utilised direct citizens’ actions and was directly in competition with the Moi/KANU state for control of the Constitution Reform Process. This direct competition and challenge, posed a legitimacy crisis on the state led process forcing an autocratic and intolerant regime to capitulate and open up space for democratic engagement of citizens in the Constitution Reform Process. But the Ufungamano Initiative is also a story of the limits of social movements. While holding so much power and promise, movements are limited in their ability to effect fundamental changes in society. Even after substantial gains in challenging the state, the Ufungamano Initiative was vulnerable and agreed to enter a ‘coerced’ merger with the state-led process in 2001. The merger dissipated the Ufungamano Initiative’s energy. This study therefore speaks to the power and limits of social movements in effecting fundamental changes in society. Applying a socio-historical approach, the study locates the Ufungamano Initiative within the broader social, economic and political struggles to argue that contemporary constitutional reform struggles in Kenya were, in Polanyi’s (1944) terms, double movement type of societal counter-movements to protect itself from an avaricious economic and political elites. Engaging the political process model, this thesis analyses seventy in-depth interviews and secondary data to explain the dynamics in the rise, operations, achievements and decline of the Ufungamano Initiative as illustrative of how movements emerge, take on a life of their own and sometimes metamorphose into phenomenal forces of change, or just fizzle out.