3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions

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    Representation Dilemmas in Civil Society Organisations in Global Health Donor Resource Prioritisation Decisions: the case of PEPFAR in South Africa
    (2019) Banda, Amanda Chawo
    Juxtaposing citizen and civil society representation in a democracy, some scholars assert that civil society organisations assume representation in their public interest advocacy work on behalf of marginalized populations. They argue that civil society organisations lack formal members or constituents to authorise and hold them accountable as representatives. I conducted a study to understand the representation dilemmas in civil society organisations in global health donor resources prioritisation decisions looking at the case of United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in South Africa between 2016 and 2018. Specifically, I assessed, what and who gives civil society authority to speak on the citizens’ behalf, how they are held accountable by the people they represent and how internally democratic civil society organisations are. A mixed method of questionnaire and in-depth interviews was used. In some cases, I observed some meetings and engagement processes between PEPFAR and civil society organisations. Using a purposive sampling method, a total of ten participants were interviewed. One was working for PEPFAR and nine participants were staff who ‘represent’ people living with HIV in their participation in the PEPFAR’s resource prioritisation processes. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse and interpret the interviews. Democratic theory, particularly examining the concept of representation, was the theoretical framework used to guide the discourse and interpretation of the research study. The study suggests that there was both authorised, delegated as well as assumed representation in the PEPFAR resource prioritisation. There is either formal independent electoral systems in place to elect and appoint representatives or membership based structures. The study found deep polarisation of civil society organisations. On one camp is a group with formal electoral systems group engaging in an ‘invited’ space through the SANAC Civil Society Forum. On the other is a camp with membership based structures participating in an ‘invented’ space. I argue while there are deep internal democratic flaws and gaps, there was no evidence of the impact of this polarisation on the legitimacy of the representation work done by both camps. In both camps, accountability and responsiveness mechanisms exist but are very weak. The study found participation remains very elite with those in Director role engaging with PEPFAR every week. Two out of the eight representatives were in contact at least once every two to three months, another two were in contact once every six months with the remaining four in contact once every twelve months only for the consultation processes. I argue that representatives’ participation in the process is only for compliance of the requirements of the process. There was no little evidence of issues raised by the representatives translate into changes to the initial proposed prioritisation of resources, design of programmes, and monitoring of implementation.
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    The role of social dialogue (civil society participation) in policy decision-making in South Africa: the case study of NEDLAC
    (2016-04-06) Ngxabi, Siziphiwe
    South Africa enshrines itself as a democratic developing country that adheres to the principles of good governance and acknowledges the role that civil society participation in state affairs can have. The purpose of this study was to establish the role and effectiveness of NEDLAC’s social dialogue process through evaluating the contribution of civil society participation in the Development Chamber; and to understand the relationship between NEDLAC’s social dialogue model and the World Bank ideology on civil society participation in policy making. The study highlights that NEDLAC remains one of the key vehicles for social dialogue in South Africa and there have been positive contributions by civil society participation in the NEDLAC process. It takes its premise from the ILO model of social dialogue, whilst it also adapts from the World Bank ideology of civil society participation by including civil society in the process, through the Development Chamber. However, the effectiveness of civil society participation in policy making through NEDLAC is at risk due to the impact of the changing socioeconomic environment. In many ways this study highlights contradictions in South Africa’s social dialogue process. The Development Chamber is not being optimally used for its intended purposes as representativity and accountability of the community organisations are a concern; whilst there is an increasingly active civil society, demonstrated by civil unrest, which is not part of this social dialogue process.
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    The power and limits of social movements in promoting political and constitutional change: the case of the Ufungamano Initiative in Kenya (1999-2005)
    (2012-07-25) Mati, Jacob Mwathi
    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.
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