Democracy Human Rights And Regional Co Operation In Southern Africa

In an era of African unity, the importance of the role of the sub-regions in working together, harmonising policies and addressing common challenges cannot be over-stated. The contributions to this volume were written by scholars of the Southern African Universities Social Sciences Conference (SAUSSC). Since its establishment in the 1970s, SAUSSC has served as a platform for discussions on issues affecting Southern African Societies. The papers focus on various social scientific and developmental issues with particular attention to the theme of the 2000 bi-annual conference, which was Democracy, Human Rights and Regional Co-operation in Southern Africa. The overriding preoccupation of most of the chapters is the regional challenges of sustainable democracy and development, and the associated problems of capacity building for democracy and respect for human rights. Other significant issues covered include civil conflict and management, peace and security, civil society and social development, citizenship and information technology.

The protection of human rights and popular participation on the first sight seem to contradict the often-existing image of the African continent. However, with the foundation of the African Union in 2000, both aspects gain greater importance on regional level. Besides that, many subregional courts within the sphere of sub-Sahara Africa partially started to develop human rights-related jurisdiction. In addition to that, most regional economic communities nowadays provide for their own parliamentary structures. The study aims to examine the several institutional structures and their competences on both, regional and subregional level. Besides that, it provides for a profound analysis of the jurisdiction of the respective courts as well as the communications of the African Commission of Human and Peoples’ Rights. Lastly, the study focuses on the correlation between the extension of the institutions’ competences and the political will of the involved governments.

Southern Africa has embarked on one of the world's most ambitious security co-operation initiatives, seeking to roll out the principles of the United Nations at regional levels. This book examines the triangular relationship between democratisation, the character of democracy and its deficits, and national security practices and perceptions of eleven southern African states. It explores what impact these processes and practices have had on the collaborative security project in the region. Based on national studies conducted by African academics and security practitioners over three years, it includes an examination of the way security is conceived and managed, as well as a comparative analysis of regional security co-operation in the developing world.

This book explores when, why, and how regional organizations adopt and design institutions to promote and protect fundamental standards of democracy, human rights, and rule of law in their member states. These regional institutions have spread globally. While their institutional designs have become increasingly similar over time, regional particularities persist. The book identifies factors that generate the demand for regional institutions and shape its institutional design. The argument combines hitherto juxtaposed explanatory factors of demands and diffusion by integrating them in a single framework and clarifying under what conditions the interplay between demands and diffusion plays out in the adoption and design of regional institutions. The book provides a comprehensive overview of regional democracy, human rights, and rule of law institutions based on two original datasets and draws on multivariate statistical analysis as well as case studies on the making and change of regional institutions in the Organization of American States and the Organization of African Unity/African Union.