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| Title: | The notion of inclusive democracy: what is new, and has Lesotho, with its reformed electoral system, edged any closer to this ideal? |
| Author: | Makoa, Francis K. |
| Year: | 2000 |
| Periodical: | Lesotho Law Journal: A Journal of Law and Development |
| Volume: | 13 |
| Issue: | 1-2 |
| Pages: | 229-240 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | Lesotho |
| Subjects: | democracy electoral systems |
| Abstract: | Contemporary discourse on democracy and democratization stress the extent to which citizens as a whole participate in governance and the way they do this. Competitiveness thus ultimately has to give way to or ensure accommodation for minorities - naturally or socially constructed - in political decisionmaking processes. This type of political participation has acquired the rather controversial appellation of 'inclusive democracy'. However, the concept of inclusive democracy is contested, being difficult to operationalize or to assign empirical referents. The author explores the concept, asking what is new that it conveys and whether Lesotho's reformed electoral system has advanced the country any closer to the ideal of inclusive democracy. The proportional representation system introduced and used in the 2002 elections encountered stiff resistance. Yet it is an important means of assuaging the opposition. But defined simply in terms of expanded membership of the legislature, inclusive democracy offers nothing beyond participation in this institution. Moreover, because it ultimately uses the majority rule principle, it is not necessarily better than the first-past-the-post model. Ref., sum. [Journal abstract] |