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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Consociational Engineering in South Africa
Author:Stultz, Newell M.
Year:1983
Periodical:Journal of Contemporary African Studies
Volume:2
Issue:2
Period:April
Pages:287-317
Language:English
Geographic term:South Africa
Subjects:political philosophy
plural society
constitutional reform
Politics and Government
Ethnic and Race Relations
Law, Human Rights and Violence
Abstract:By 1973 the idea of consociationalism (which refers to the political system of a 'plural' society in which conflicts among social 'segments' (usually meaning ethnic groups) are resolved not by simple majority rule, but rather with the aid of a variety of other political mechanisms that together results in 'amicable agreement' among other segments) had arrived in South Africa. This article reviews the process of constitutional adaptation in order to identify some of the special burdens of the consociational engineer in the South African setting. Three documents are the principal sources: the First Report of the constitutional committee; the verbatim record of the subsequent debate on that report in the full President's Council in the middle of May 1982; and the Second Report of the constitutional committee (not yet appeared). The conclusion is that the South African government's current plans for constitutional change are imperfect, from a consociational point of view. Fig., notes.
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