Political opposition and the challenges of a dominant party system: The democratic alliance in South Africa

2011 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Southern
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Party System ◽  
Political Opposition ◽  
Dominant Party

Opposition Growth in Dominant Party Systems: Coalitions in South Africa

2013 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 290-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Langfield
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Party System ◽  
Cape Town ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Western Cape Province ◽  
Dominant Party ◽  
Party Strategies ◽  
Party Elites ◽  
Dominant Parties

What is responsible for the decline of democratically dominant parties and the corresponding growth of competitive party systems? This article argues that, despite a ruling party's dominance, opposition forces can gain by winning important subnational offices and then creating a governance record that they can use to win new supporters. It focuses on South Africa as a paradigmatic dominant party system, tracing the increased competitiveness of elections in Cape Town and the surrounding Western Cape province between 1999 and 2010. These events show how party strategies may evolve, reflecting how party elites can learn from forming coalitions.

The Congress Party Model: South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) and India's Indian National Congress (INC) as Dominant Parties

2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thiven Reddy
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Party System ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
The Political ◽  
Nationalist Movements ◽  
Dominant Party ◽  
Congress Party ◽  
Dominant Parties ◽  
National Congress ◽  
Indian National Congress

Abstract The paper argues that the model developed to analyze the dominance of the Indian National Congress of the political party system during the first two decades of independence helps in our understanding of the unfolding party system in South Africa. A comparison of the Congress Party and the African National Congress suggests many similarities. The paper is divided into three broad sections. The first part focuses on the dominant party system in India. In the second part, I apply the model of the Congress System to South Africa. I argue that the three features of the Congress System – a dominant party with mass based legitimacy, constituted by many factions and operating on the idiom of consensus-seeking internal politics, and sources of opposition who cooperate with factions in the dominant party to influence the political agenda – prevails in South Africa. In the third part, I draw on the comparison between the ANC and Congress Party to account for why certain nationalist movements become dominant parties. I emphasize that broad nationalist movements displaying high degrees of legitimacy and embracing democratic practices are adaptive to changing contexts and develop organizational mechanisms to manage internal party conflict. They contribute to the consolidation of democracy rather than undermine it.

Election 1999: Prospects for the Consolidation of Democracy in South Africa

1999 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 2-8
Author(s):  
Khehla Shubane ◽  
Louise Stack
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Party System ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
National Unity ◽  
Majority Party ◽  
Dominant Party ◽  
National Congress ◽  
Election Results

The African National Congress (ANC) emerged from South Africa’s 1999 election in a greatly strengthened position. Now, not only is the constitutionally obligatory five-year period of a government of national unity over—which means that the ANC as the majority party is entitled to rule the country on its own—but the ANC increased its already strong majority in Parliament to just short of two-thirds.In this article, we first discuss the context of the political debate in which the election took place, as well as the outcome of the election. We then examine the prospects for the consolidation of democracy in South Africa in light of the election results and in relation to the issues surrounding electoral procedure, a dominant party system, and opposition politics within the context of a still very much racially divided society.

Dominant Party Rule, Opposition Parties and Minorities in South Africa

2001 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hermann Giliomee ◽  
James Myburgh ◽  
Lawrence Schlemmer
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Dominant Party ◽  
Opposition Parties

scholarly journals Regime Types or Party Systems: What Matters More For Political Instability In The Developing World?

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 28
Author(s):  
M. Moniruzzaman
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Party System ◽  
Developing World ◽  
Political Instability ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Dominant Party ◽  
Regime Types ◽  
What Matters

<p>Political stability is desired by every state. But is it contingent upon regime types or party systems? Existing studies on political stability suggest that regimes such as authoritarianism, democracy, and dictatorship and their variants have variously influenced political stability. Some have proved to be friendly with political stability in certain countries, while counterproductive for some other. However, the existing literature has exclusively focused on regime types alone neglecting the factor of party systems. This article argues that not only regime types but party systems also influence political stability. Based on data from Asia, Africa and Latin America this article examines the following four assumptions. Firstly, absolute monarchy and absolute authoritarianism together with no or one party system generally maintain political stability. Secondly, constitutional monarchies together with multiparty system generally maintain political stability. Thirdly, presidentialism together with dominant party system generally maintains political stability. And finally, parliamentarianism together with multi-party system is generally negatively related with political stability.</p>

South Africa's 1999 Election: Consolidating a Dominant Party System

Africa Today ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly Lanegran
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Dominant Party

Book Reviews

1972 ◽  
Vol 128 (2) ◽  
pp. 366-402
Author(s):  
Redactie KITLV
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Party System ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
New Haven ◽  
Yale University ◽  
Asian Studies ◽  
Dominant Party ◽  
Oxford University ◽  
Southeast Asian Studies ◽  
Phonetic Features

- P.E. de Josselin de Jong, Vincent Monteil, Indonésie. Collection “Hommes et civilisations.” Horizons de France, 1970. 287 p., 280 plates (36 in colour). - H. Aveling, Burton Raffel, The forked tongue: A study of the translation process. (De proprietatibus Litterarum, series maior, 14). Mouton, The Hague and Paris 1971. 181 pp. - A. Teeuw, David H. de Queljoe, A preliminary study of some phonetic features of Petani, with glossaries. Special Report Series Number 5. Center for Southeast Asian Studies. Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois. Macrh 1971. XIII and 114 pp. - E. Postel-Coster, Kirk Michael Endicott, An analysis of Malay magic. Oxford Monographs on Social Anthropology, Oxford 1970. 188 pp. - Thé Siauw Giap, Mahathir bin Mohamad, The Malay Dilemma. Donald Moore for the Asia Pacific Press Pte Ltd, Singapore 1970. vi, 188 p. - P.D. de Josselin de Jong, Thomas J. Bellows, The People’s action party of Singapore. The energence of a dominant party system. Monograph Series No. 14, Yale University Southeast Asia Series. New Haven, Conn. 1970. 195 blz. - J.H. Maronier, J. de Loos-Haaxman, Dagwerk in Indië. Hommage aan het verstild verleden. F. Wever. Franeker. 103 bldz., 114 ill. in de tekst, 12 gekl. ill. in insteekmap. - P.H. Pott, Albert le Bonheur, La sculpture indonésienne au Musée Guimet. Catalogue et étude iconographique. Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 1971, oblong, 4to, 360 p., vele platen. - J.J.M. Taeymans, J. Innes Miller, The spice trade of the Roman Empire, 29 B.C. - A.D. 641. Clarendon Press: Oxford University Press, Oxford 1969. 294 p., 4 plates, 9 maps. - ,

Non-Electoral Executive Turnover and Low-Capacity Democracy in Southern Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-215
Author(s):  
Nathan Munier
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Executive Turnover ◽  
Dominant Party ◽  
Executive Authority ◽  
Dominant Parties ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

What do non-electoral turnovers tell us about the relationship between elections, executive turnover, and democratisation? Can they contribute to democratisation? To gain insight into these questions, we consider the experiences of Southern Africa. While transfers of executive authority have become commonplace in Southern Africa, they do not necessarily coincide with elections and rarely involve partisan turnover. Neither the mode nor the form of executive turnover corresponds clearly with prior assessments of democracy. This study examines recent non-electoral turnovers in Zimbabwe (November 2017), South Africa (February 2018), and Botswana (April 2018). This research finds that non-electoral transfers of presidential authority in Southern Africa represent efforts by dominant parties to manage factional conflicts and enhance their ability to benefit from incumbency in competitive elections. While non-electoral turnover in executive authority might promote democracy under some conditions, they do more to sustain dominant party rule and a stagnate level of low-capacity democracy.

Opposition in a Dominant-Party System

1969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Sutherland Burger
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Dominant Party
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