The Role Of Electoral Systems In The Institutionalisation Of Democratic Governance In Sadc Countries

This book offers an incisive analysis of the role of electoral systems in broadening popular participation in the SADC region. The assessment takes place in the backdrop of SADC's commitment to democracy as illustrated by developments such as the holding of successful multi-party elections in several SADC countries in the last fifteen years. Indeed in the last fifteen or so years SADC has developed institutions and undertaken a number of major constitutional, legal and administrative changes with the objective of institutionalizing democracy. The book highlights how a choice of an electoral system may either advance or retard democracy. It concludes by suggesting that the time may have arisen for SADC countries to review their electoral systems with a view to ascertaining their continued relevance having regard to the prevailing realities of each country. The book will appeal to students of politics and law, politicians, lawyers, researchers, organs of civil society, independent electoral commissions and all those working in the area of electoral reforms.

A critique of modern African 'democracies'

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.

Any study of Africa's multiparty elections reveals inherent institutional and systemic difficulties that raise questions about the electoral outcomes in the emerging democracies. An assessment of electoral processes in Africa poses methodological, conceptual, and theoretical challenges to scholars and practitioners. The chapters of this volume address these issues through an assessment of the electoral processes and an examination of democratisation trends in Africa, with special focus on case studies. The chapters on Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, and South Africa analyse these complexities holistically. They examine: the potency and independence of electoral institutions; adherence to electoral laws by those charged with the statutory powers as well as the participants in the elections; the role of the media, election monitors and observers, civil society, and political parties. The authors also assess whether or not elections were conducted in a free and fair environment conducive for multiparty electoral practice and consolidation.

Part of a continent-wide study being carried out by the Governance and AIDS Programme of the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA), this book brings together the most recent and substantive empirical evidence pertaining to the effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on the democratic process and political dynamics in South Africa.