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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The National Party Constitutional Proposals: Stable democracy or minority imperialism? |
Author: | Schlemmer, Lawrence |
Year: | 1991 |
Periodical: | South Africa International |
Volume: | 22 |
Issue: | 2 |
Period: | October |
Pages: | 65-70 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | South Africa |
Subjects: | political parties National Party constitutions bill drafting Law, Human Rights and Violence Politics and Government |
Abstract: | This article first outlines in brief the National Party's framework for a new democratic South Africa as presented in its document on 'Constitutional rule in a participatory democracy' (1991). Then it examines the implications for effective democracy by answering the following questions: Are the proposals anti-democratic because they override or constrain majority rule? Are the proposals not a formula for exacerbating or maintaining racial antagonism? Would the framework encourage rank and file participation and an independent civil society, or is it elitist? Will this framework not lead to paralysis, conflict, deadlocks and stalemate in government? The conclusion is that the National Party proposals are the basis of broadly the kind of compromise-based 'pact' between power groups which has tended to facilitate the emergence of stable democratic systems elsewhere in the world. Ref., sum. |