The roots run deep?: Understanding branch politics within the African National Congress
- Authors: Mkhutle, Nhlanhla Handsome
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: African National Congress , Manipulative behavior Political aspects South Africa , Cartels South Africa , Power (Social sciences) South Africa , Patronage, Political South Africa , Political party organization South Africa , Branch politics
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190261 , vital:44978
- Description: This thesis explores the functioning of branch politics within the African National Congress (ANC) and the influence of branch politics on the organization and its structures. The ANC has many of the characteristics of a mass party. In mass parties, mass participation is supposed to be promoted through the activities of party branches. This thesis documents the weakening of the ANC’s local level structures and their political control over the organization’s decisions. ANC branches are investigated as democratic vanguards of ANC’s mass party persona, in relation to their functioning as the most basic units of the organization. The thesis reflects on branch members’ experiences in different ANC branches to understand the interplay between branch politics, political power, and patronage politics within the ANC. This research project also explores the possibility of manipulation of ANC branches by senior leaders and would-be-leaders of the ANC. The thesis then concludes by summarising the state of branch politics within the ANC and giving recommendations on further study with regards to branch politics of the ANC. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Political and International Studies, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Mkhutle, Nhlanhla Handsome
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: African National Congress , Manipulative behavior Political aspects South Africa , Cartels South Africa , Power (Social sciences) South Africa , Patronage, Political South Africa , Political party organization South Africa , Branch politics
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190261 , vital:44978
- Description: This thesis explores the functioning of branch politics within the African National Congress (ANC) and the influence of branch politics on the organization and its structures. The ANC has many of the characteristics of a mass party. In mass parties, mass participation is supposed to be promoted through the activities of party branches. This thesis documents the weakening of the ANC’s local level structures and their political control over the organization’s decisions. ANC branches are investigated as democratic vanguards of ANC’s mass party persona, in relation to their functioning as the most basic units of the organization. The thesis reflects on branch members’ experiences in different ANC branches to understand the interplay between branch politics, political power, and patronage politics within the ANC. This research project also explores the possibility of manipulation of ANC branches by senior leaders and would-be-leaders of the ANC. The thesis then concludes by summarising the state of branch politics within the ANC and giving recommendations on further study with regards to branch politics of the ANC. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Political and International Studies, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
How does security limit the right to protest? : a study examining the securitised response to protest in South Africa
- Authors: Royeppen, Andrea Leigh
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Protest movements -- South Africa , Political violence -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 21st century , Civil rights -- South Africa , Police power -- South Africa , Abuse of administrative power -- South Africa , Police -- Complaints against -- South Africa , Right to strike -- South Africa , Democracy -- South Africa , Political leadership -- South Africa -- 21st century , Political participation -- South Africa , African National Congress , South African Police Service
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2878 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013071
- Description: In South Africa, the right to protest is under constant threat as a result of the state response. Increasing cases of forceful policing and sometimes unlawful procedural prohibitions of protest attest to this. This study aims to firstly describe this situation through securitisation theory, essentially arguing that South Africa has become a securitised state. It also aims to understand how this is sustained by the state and why the state needs to use a securitised response to maintain power. Interviews were conducted with members of different communities and organisations. Their responses helped to illustrate the frustration of the right to protest or brutal policing during a protest. This provided primary evidence to support the claims of the study. The research shows that claims to protest are being delegitimised under the guise of security as protestors are being constructed as threats to the state. This is further substantiated by looking at how the reorganisation and remililtarisation of the South African Police perpetuates the criminalisation of protestors which necessitates a forceful response from the state. Furthermore, it shows that there is a distinct relationship between the prohibition of protest and the recent increase in ‘violent’ protests which legitimate forceful policing thereby creating a state sustained cycle of violence. The larger implication of this treatment is that these protestors are treated as non- citizens who are definitively excluded from participating in governance. In understanding why this is taking place, it is clear that a securtitised response is an attempt to maintain power by dispelling any threats to power, a response which is seen to have a long history in the African National Congress (ANC) when examining the politics of the ANC during exile. Maintaining power in this way distracts from the larger agenda of the state, which this thesis argues, is to mask the unraveling of the ANC’s hegemony and inability to maintain national unity. In other words, the increasing dissatisfaction of some of the citizenry which has manifested through protest greatly undermines the legitimacy of the government to provide for its people.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Royeppen, Andrea Leigh
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Protest movements -- South Africa , Political violence -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 21st century , Civil rights -- South Africa , Police power -- South Africa , Abuse of administrative power -- South Africa , Police -- Complaints against -- South Africa , Right to strike -- South Africa , Democracy -- South Africa , Political leadership -- South Africa -- 21st century , Political participation -- South Africa , African National Congress , South African Police Service
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2878 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013071
- Description: In South Africa, the right to protest is under constant threat as a result of the state response. Increasing cases of forceful policing and sometimes unlawful procedural prohibitions of protest attest to this. This study aims to firstly describe this situation through securitisation theory, essentially arguing that South Africa has become a securitised state. It also aims to understand how this is sustained by the state and why the state needs to use a securitised response to maintain power. Interviews were conducted with members of different communities and organisations. Their responses helped to illustrate the frustration of the right to protest or brutal policing during a protest. This provided primary evidence to support the claims of the study. The research shows that claims to protest are being delegitimised under the guise of security as protestors are being constructed as threats to the state. This is further substantiated by looking at how the reorganisation and remililtarisation of the South African Police perpetuates the criminalisation of protestors which necessitates a forceful response from the state. Furthermore, it shows that there is a distinct relationship between the prohibition of protest and the recent increase in ‘violent’ protests which legitimate forceful policing thereby creating a state sustained cycle of violence. The larger implication of this treatment is that these protestors are treated as non- citizens who are definitively excluded from participating in governance. In understanding why this is taking place, it is clear that a securtitised response is an attempt to maintain power by dispelling any threats to power, a response which is seen to have a long history in the African National Congress (ANC) when examining the politics of the ANC during exile. Maintaining power in this way distracts from the larger agenda of the state, which this thesis argues, is to mask the unraveling of the ANC’s hegemony and inability to maintain national unity. In other words, the increasing dissatisfaction of some of the citizenry which has manifested through protest greatly undermines the legitimacy of the government to provide for its people.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
A democratising South Africa?: an analysis of the 2004 national election
- Authors: Prudhomme, Leah Shianne
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: African National Congress , Elections -- South Africa , Voting -- South Africa , Democracy -- South Africa , Political parties -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2823 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003033 , African National Congress , Elections -- South Africa , Voting -- South Africa , Democracy -- South Africa , Political parties -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Description: Two of the post apartheid elections held in South Africa (1994, 1999) have been used as mechanisms to analyse and assess the extent to which the country’s transition from apartheid to a democratic dispensation is succeeding or not. The primary analytical focus of the 1994 and 1999 elections has revolved around the nature of the party system and voting behaviour. Basically, contestation has arisen over two primary and related issues: the dominance of the African National Congress (ANC) weighed against the weakness of opposition parties and the implications that this development has for effective democratic consolidation. Also, whether voting decisions based on divisive racial and ethnic identities that underlie electoral contests are pervasive enough to derail the process of democratisation. Generally, the primary conclusion has been that the unfolding pattern of South African electoral politics indicates sufficient grounds on which to doubt the prospects for effective democratic consolidation. This dissertation engages these debates with particular reference to the 2004 elections. In contrast to this pessimistic view of the prospects of successful democratisation in South Africa it upholds through an analysis of the 2004 elections the view that there is insufficient empirical evidence, to conclude that South Africa’s democratisation process is imperiled. It maintains that although there are problems related to the to the nature of the party system and some elements of voting behaviour there is enough countervailing evidence revealed by the 2004 election results that this does not present a substantially serious threat to the prospects of South Africa attaining a democratic society.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
- Authors: Prudhomme, Leah Shianne
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: African National Congress , Elections -- South Africa , Voting -- South Africa , Democracy -- South Africa , Political parties -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2823 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003033 , African National Congress , Elections -- South Africa , Voting -- South Africa , Democracy -- South Africa , Political parties -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Description: Two of the post apartheid elections held in South Africa (1994, 1999) have been used as mechanisms to analyse and assess the extent to which the country’s transition from apartheid to a democratic dispensation is succeeding or not. The primary analytical focus of the 1994 and 1999 elections has revolved around the nature of the party system and voting behaviour. Basically, contestation has arisen over two primary and related issues: the dominance of the African National Congress (ANC) weighed against the weakness of opposition parties and the implications that this development has for effective democratic consolidation. Also, whether voting decisions based on divisive racial and ethnic identities that underlie electoral contests are pervasive enough to derail the process of democratisation. Generally, the primary conclusion has been that the unfolding pattern of South African electoral politics indicates sufficient grounds on which to doubt the prospects for effective democratic consolidation. This dissertation engages these debates with particular reference to the 2004 elections. In contrast to this pessimistic view of the prospects of successful democratisation in South Africa it upholds through an analysis of the 2004 elections the view that there is insufficient empirical evidence, to conclude that South Africa’s democratisation process is imperiled. It maintains that although there are problems related to the to the nature of the party system and some elements of voting behaviour there is enough countervailing evidence revealed by the 2004 election results that this does not present a substantially serious threat to the prospects of South Africa attaining a democratic society.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
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