3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item The effective of redistricting on South Africa's electocal process: the case of Gauteng(2017) Agrizzi, GiancarloThis thesis aims to analyse the effects of redistricting on the South African electoral processes, placing specific focus on the region of Gauteng and the three metropolitan municipalities located within it. While significant research on South Africa’s electoral system has been conducted, not much has been done with regards to the demarcation process in South Africa. Elections have been suggested to form a fundamental part of any democratic system, which coincides with the idea that institutional integrity ensures a strong democracy. In the context of constituency-based systems, many countries have displayed elements of using the process of redistricting to gain political advantage over another party. The act of redistricting manipulation was later referred to as gerrymandering, which is the manipulation of district lines by one political party to gain an advantage over another. The original contribution of this thesis lies primarily in its investigation into the effects of redistricting on electoral processes, which make use of a multiple case study research design to identify redistricting and demarcation tools and techniques aimed at resolving the past inequalities and ensuring effective elections. This approach has been adopted because multiple cases allow for a wide-range of perspectives on the study to be gathered and establishes a platform for comprehensive generalisations. Repeated evidence from multiple case studies assists in better supporting these generalised findings. Complementary to the multiple case study approach, this thesis makes use of qualitative data obtained from the Independent Electoral Commission and Municipal Demarcations Board.Item From ‘White Liberal’ to ‘Rainbow Nation’ and Beyond:The dynamics of party adaptation in a racialised environment(2018) Leisegang, AlexandraThe Democratic Alliance (DA) has been the only opposition party in democratic South Africa to demonstrate consistent growth in every election since 1994. In order to achieve this growth, it has had to adapt its label from a ‘White Liberal’ party to a Rainbow Nation party in a racialised environment where race still affects voter choice. The party’s greatest challenge has been to attract black voters and this has formed a central feature of its adaptation since the late 1990s. Although the DA’s growth is well-documented in the literature on elections in South Africa, there has been little scholarly interrogation of the dynamics of the DA’s growth from a party behaviour perspective. The thesis seeks to fill this gap by providing an explanation for the DA’s growth through party behaviour theory. Using the Party Evolution Model (Lamprinakou, 2008), the thesis examines the party’s origins, its identity and its political marketing adaptation from 1994 to 2017. Beginning with the formation of the Progressive Party in 1959, the thesis follows the party’s several reoriginations which led to the formation of what is now the DA. It identifies the party’s organisational type and ideological identity and how this is beginning to shift as the party attempts to attract black voters. The adaptation of the party into a modern, diverse party occurs at the organisational and political marketing levels. Through an exploration of party communications, policies and internal documents from 1994 to 2017, the thesis argues that the DA has adapted from a policy-seeking, product-oriented party to a vote-seeking hybrid of sales- and market-orientation. The thesis explores the DA’s organisational and party label adaptation; its attempts to balance its racial markets since 1994; the realignment of politics in South Africa; and the connection between the DA’s history and its present trajectory.Item Government appointments, patronage and social justice in South Africa(2016) Safodien, KhalidIn this research, I‟m interested in exploring the question as to whether government appointments on the basis of patronage undermine the delivery of social goods and service and the obligations of and social justice in South Africa. One of the norms of social justice relates to the distribution of goods and services in ways that are just. As Rawls shows in A Theory of Justice, justice is not only the first virtue of society, it is one that should be thought of in terms of fairness — where fairness has to do with skewing society or the principles that govern society in ways that are responsive to the interest and good of all (rather than that of an individual or a select few or particular group). One conclusion that can be drawn from this is that to meet this requirement it is imperative that social institutions are calibrated to be sensitive to justice and with regard to appointments to government positions such appointments are done on the basis of ability to meet such obligation. As part of investigating the above question, I will discuss a number of examples that highlight that certain government appointments in South Africa are done on the basis of party affiliation and not based on skills and qualifications. As such, the most qualified people do not often hold those positions. One consequence of this is the inadequacies and inefficiencies in the distribution of social goods and services that has gradually become the norm in South Africa.Item Asisjiki: black women in the Economic Freedom Fighters, owning space, building a movement(2018) Dlakavu, Simamkele BlossomItem The determinants of ideological moderation in the South African party systems: 1994-2014(2017) Adaken, LetitiaThe purpose of this study is to examine the causes of ideological moderation in the South African party system in the post-1994 period. Previous research stresses the non-left-right feature of politics and when it recognises the centrist feature of major parties and moderation of the party system, the causes of the latter are unexplained. The deficiency in previous research is that moderation and limited left-right disagreements as fundamental causes of broader political dynamics are overlooked — moderate systems foster political consensus and democratic stability. In this study I critically examine three theoretical causal variables that account for moderation: the electoral system, the electorate, and the dominant party. This study relies on a measurement of party system fragmentation, and voter and party system polarisation, as well as an intensive qualitative assessment of the ANC. The evidence is based on a number of nationally representative surveys that measure public opinion; interviews with political party leaders and representatives, and officials from labour and business; and document analysis. The finding is that the ANC as the dominant party is the main driver of moderation in the party system. Coupled with electoral dominance, the centripetal, non-dogmatic, pragmatic and flexible tendencies that characterise the ANC permit the party to induce and stabilise party system moderation. This study: develops a causal framework for understanding moderation; builds on previous research about the centrism of major parties and the moderation of the party system (both quantitatively and qualitatively); departs from the argument about the fragmented and rightist nature of the opposition bloc and the race-based approach to the electorate; and extends the debate about the ANC by arguing that left-right movement occurs within centrist terrain, and that the party is not an amorphous or client entity but a clearly defined one. I also add to: the growing body of knowledge that finds no necessary connection between proportionalism, extremist party positioning and polarisation; the idea that party system polarisation is less reflective of voter polarisation; and concur with previous research that argues that the role of a pivotal centre party is critical for the party system.Item An assessment of South African political parties' adherence to governance principles(2017) Besani, Sibongile JeremiaPolitical parties are prominent in the development of democracy in South Africa. Therefore, it is critical to expand knowledge about the governance of the major parties in the country in order to reflect on the future of democracy. The framework based on key functions - membership recruitment, policy formulation and organisational complexity performed by political parties facilitate an incisive assessment of adherence to governance principles - participation, accountability and transparency. Various sources, which include constitutions, interviews and focus group discussions of political parties, were central in the assessment of the governance principles of parties. The study revealed that the visions, missions, regularity of meetings, quorums requirements for meetings, diverse representation and structures are instructive in assessing and understanding the prevalence of governance principles within the operations of political parties. These areas are revealed in the study and they also provide insights in a future perspective of South African democracy.Item A study of collective subjectivity and political representation within the Economic Freedom Fighters in the North West province(2016) Essop, TasneemThe 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.Item Intraparty politics and the local state: factionalism, patronage and power in Buffalo city metropolitan municipality(2016) Mukwedeya, Tatenda GodswillThis 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.Item The influence of social media political marketing on trust, loyalty and voting intention of youth voters in South Africa(2016) Dabula, NandiSouth Africa has witnessed a decline in youth voter turnout. Consequently, political parties are integrating social media in their political marketing strategies in order to appeal to the youth voters. Notwithstanding the cumulative research that has been conducted on social media political marketing globally, there is dearth of such research in South Africa. Furthermore, no studies have explored the influence of social media political marketing on voter trust, loyalty and voting intention of the youth in the South African political context. This research intends to contribute to the increasing knowledge on the efficacy of social media political marketing by political parties in South Africa to engage with the youth and improve their election turn out. The two main research objectives the study seeks to achieve are to establish the influence of social media political marketing on voting intention, with voter trust and voter loyalty as mediators and to determine which mediator (voter trust or voter loyalty) has the strongest influence on the outcome variable (voting intention). Using a data set of 250 respondents, between the ages of 18 and 35 years, from Gauteng Province in South Africa, this study explores these relationships. The study outcome is that all five hypotheses are supported. The results denote that the relationship between social media political marketing and voter trust, social media political marketing and voter loyalty, voter trust and voter loyalty, voter trust and voting intention and voter loyalty and voting intention are all positive in a significant way. The research paper deliberates on the implications of the results from an academic, political party, legal and marketers’ perspective. In addition, directions for future research are suggested.Item Should South Africa regulate the private funding of political parties?(2016-03-01) Feltham, Luke“South Africa’s democracy is faced with a clear and immediate threat”. In a nutshell this is the narrative developed and adopted by countless activists and political commentators who believe that to move forward as a nation legislation regulating private funding of political parties must be introduced. The key objective is transparency – without it the fear is that donors will essentially be able to buy influence within the government. The constant insinuations and reports of adverse donor influences have not done anything to allay these fears. This research paper will examine the legitimacy of these claims. Is it indeed imperative that we regulate private funding? If we are to determine whether there is a need to adjust South African law to safeguard the democratic values that the nation has held dear for over 20 years, then we must answer a set of subsidiary questions, such as what alternatives do we have? Is transparency really a goal that should be fought to achieve? To what extent to South Africa’s political parties rely on funding from private sources? To answer these questions this research paper will develop a thorough understanding of the financial and the political climate political parties find themselves in and ultimately determine whether the country’s democracy is faced with a legitimate threat and if so what can be done to avert it.