Browsing by Author "Schrire, Robert"
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- ItemOpen AccessAfrican development : the historical context of NEPAD(2004) Gould, Kate; Schrire, RobertIncludes bibliographical references.
- ItemOpen AccessAssessing investment rationale : the case of Anglo American Corporation in Latin America(2007) White, Lyal; Schrire, RobertThis thesis assesses the investment decisions and investment behaviour of the Anglo American Corporation in Latin America and Africa. It focuses on the question of ‘why’ Anglo chose to invest in Latin America and how it went about choosing one country over another. It is an historical, ideographic study that explores the role of personalities, institutional, political and corporate culture and wider national and regional political criteria in Anglo’s investment decision process.
- ItemOpen AccessAssessing the African mobile telephony boom : the impact of the mobile phone and its relationship to the digital divide(2008) Comninos, Alex; Schrire, RobertThis dissertation provides an overview of the boom in mobile telephony in Africa, experienced in terms of exceptional and increasing subscriber growth. It provides a description of the mobile telephony boom, as well as its social political and economic impacts. It investigates what effect mobile telephony has had on the bridging of a broader digital divide, conceived of in terms of inequalities in access to information and communication technologies between Africa and the rest of the world, as well within Africa itself. It concludes that the boom in mobile telephony has had far-reaching impacts on the continent at all levels of African society. In particular, mobile phones have had a significant economic impact on the continent, which the author argues has been from the bottom up -affecting greatly the base of the economic pyramid and the informal sector. Mobile telephony has however not made a significant impact in the bridging of the digital divide conceived of in terms of access to the internet. A broader digital divide still exists which mobile telephony may not provide the tools to bridge.
- ItemRestrictedBook Review: Capitalizing China(2014-01) Schrire, RobertChina’s economic boom took many analysts by surprise because of its deviation from conventional growth theory. This volume, featuring papers from a conference co-hosted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the American National Bureau of Economic Research, makes a significant contribution to our knowledge. Unlike most writings on China, it is based upon a detailed analysis of rich and extensive empirical data. Although most of the contributors are US-based or -educated, the volume contains a refreshing range of views and arguments.
- ItemOpen AccessBook Review: The Equal Society: Essays on Equality in Theory and Practice(2017-06) Schrire, RobertIssues around equality have become of critical importance in our globalised world. Thomas Piketty in France and Paul Krugman in the United States are among many contemporary economists who have stressed the centrality of the impact of inequality on the welfare of nations and peoples. The rise of right- and left- wing populists like Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders is a visible manifestation of the political impact of inequality. This volume therefore comes at a propitious time. The product of an international conference of philosophers held in Cape Town in late 2014, its 14 contributors examine a wide range of practical and epistemic issues related to equality and inequality.
- ItemOpen AccessBumbling Along(University of KwaZulu-Natal, 1994) Schrire, RobertSouth Africa has achieved political democracy but the big challenge still lies ahead of us. The route is fraught with dangers. A look at the current political, social and economic map of the country indicates that we are bumbling along a middle road scenario towards a mixed First World-Third World society which could, with sound management, lead to further development and stable democracy.
- ItemOpen AccessChange and the nation-state in the European Union(2006) Haastrup, Adetoun A A; Schrire, RobertThe advent of the European Union has necessitated an adaptation on the part of governments, especially in those areas where the Community's laws supersede the national laws. The process whereby the Union affects the state has been characterised as ' Europeanisation.' This paper examines the adaptation in certain policy areas, not of policy itself, but at changes in the decision-making mechanisms that accompany membership in Union. It focuses on change in foreign policy mechanisms in Britain and Sweden, both unique case studies because of their histories. I argue that changes in foreign policy mechanisms reflect a change in the construct of the state itself given the delicacy of this particular policy area. Because foreign policy making remains within the ambit of respective member states, with the CFSP, the second pillar of the Maastricht treaty, encouraging, at best coordination by states, without imposing supranationality, foreign policy coordination in the European Union is mostly an intergovernmental affair. The changes in decision-making mechanisms however, has jeopardised the accepted notion of sovereignty in EU states as Sweden battles to retain her neutrality identity and Britain struggles to keep its Atlantic alliance intact while being part of Europe. Moreover, although the present changes have not removed foreign policy within the Union from intergovernmental level, that position too is fast changing. It is too early to say that the CFSP or the CESDP will supersede national foreign policy, and possibly, for a long time it would not; however, the new mechanisms in place allow for change in this aspect of the Union. In essence, as national foreign policy mechanisms evolve to accommodate membership, the CFSP too is adapting to the influence of the states and in the final analysis has the most potential to shape the future of the Union.
- ItemRestrictedConstitutional change and the issue of reform: A Review of the Buthelezi Commission and President's Council Constitutional Reports(UNISA Press, 1983-01) Schrire, RobertOne of the recent growth industries in our political life is in the field of constitutional proposals. From the government side we have had among others the Theron Commission, the Parliamentary Select Committee on the Constitution, and three President's Council reports. An election in 1977 was ostensibly fought at least in part, over the merits of the National Party constitutional proposals. Much of 1982 was dominated by news of the government's new constitutional proposals which precipitated a National Party split and then absorbed most of the efforts of its four provincial party congresses. Outside of government considerable attention has also been paid to constitutional matters. In 1978 a major conference was held in Pietermaritzburg to examine the then constitutional proposals of the National Party and several other constitutional conferences and workshops have subsequently taken place. Indeed the theme of the most recent meeting of the Political Science Association of South Africa was constitutional reform and political stability. In KwaZulu Chief Buthelezi appointed a constitutional commission while the Coloured Persons Representative Council produced its own constitutional proposals before it was disbanded. The opposition parties too have paid more attention to constitutional issues than in the past and both the PFP and the NRP have specific and carefully worked out proposals. Clearly however, the proposals with the greatest political significance are those of the National Party and the Buthelezi Commission, because they are the products of the two largest political groupings in South Africa; the Afrikaners and the Zulus. This review article will therefore be devoted to an analysis of these two reports.
- ItemOpen AccessThe decline of a dominant party : the Indian National Congress, 1967-1977(2008) Ansara, David; Schrire, RobertThis thesis is concerned with the phenomenon of Single Party Dominance (SPD) and the implications of such a phenomenon on the party system in post-Independence India. Specifically, the work is tasked with explaining how dominance can end by providing an analytical narrative of a single case of SPD and its collapse. This will be done by examining the precipitous decline of the Indian National Congress over a ten-year period from 1967, where Congress lost its first state-level elections, to 1977, where the party was finally rejected at the national level after three decades of dominance.
- ItemRestrictedThe Duality of Globalisation: A View from the South(Taylor & Francis, 2000) Schrire, RobertThis article defines economic globalisation as the process of integrating the economic systems of state-based polities and outlines the main dimensions of this process. An empirical analysis indicates that the globalisation process is far less advanced than the contemporary debate would indicate, and that globalisation is not a process that affects all states equally. For the economic superpowers, globalisation is far less limiting than for small powers. This duality is the key to understanding the influence of technology and economic liberalisation. The article concludes that superpower dominance in a post-Cold War era created the mythology of globalisation to fill the intellectual vacuum createdby the end of Marxism. The smaller states, lacking influence over the global knowledge structure, accepted this interpretation and acted within the roles as determined by the globalisation paradigm.
- ItemRestrictedThe Emancipation of Transkei(Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1977-01) Schrire, RobertOn 26 October 1976 the South African Government granted the Transkei, a 37,000 sq. kilometre territory on the south-east coast of the Cape Province, independence. With the exception of South Africa, no state has recognized Transkei and, indeed, the United Nations explicitly condemned South Africa. Why has so much attention been lavished on a territory that on the surface appears to be devoid of any importance? South African and foreign opinion leaders perceived that the importance of Transkeian independence lay in its significance as part of the larger South African situation and it is therefore necessary to examine Transkei within the broader context of South African domestic and external policies.
- ItemOpen AccessForeign policy between the Russian Federation and European Union in the 21st century(2004) Barton, Justin; Schrire, Robert; Stephan, HarryThis thesis examines the growing partnership between Russia and the ED. Although suspicious of each other's intentions at times, both sides have realized the necessity for close cooperation. In many respects, the ED is an economic empire in search of a security structure, while Russia is a military power without an economic base. The crime, corruption, and slowly developing democracy in Russia are of supreme security concern for the EU, because they create instability and uncertainty in the region.
- ItemOpen AccessGiving faith back to the poor : a World Bank - civil society partnership(2004) Kim, Frances Yong-Min; Schrire, RobertIncludes bibliographical references.
- ItemOpen AccessHow has the treatment of marine-based, article XX exception trade disputes differed between the GATT and the WTO?(2009) Coetzee, Kim; Schrire, RobertThis paper uses a comparative case-study methodology to analyse two marine-based, Article XX exceptions cases: one each brought before the dispute resolution mechanisms of the GATT and WTO respectively. This research is driven by a desire to gain some insight into what happens when the imperatives of liberalised trade confront the interests of environmental protection, and also, to examine the similarities and differences between GATT and the WTO.
- ItemOpen AccessMultinationals and the state : the Chilean case(2006) Kurien, Sarah Elizabeth; Schrire, Robert; Luders, RolfIncludes bibliographical references.
- ItemRestrictedThe Myth of the 'Mandela' Presidency(University of KwaZulu-Natal, 1996) Schrire, RobertPresident Nelson Mandela is, in many respects, the least powerful head of government South Africa has had for almost half a century. Democratic government has placed restraints on the accumulation of power which Mandela’s age and consensual leadership style have reinforced. Mandela dominates symbols, public affection and deference, but is only one of a strong executive team shaping policy and leadership. The ‘Mandela’presidency is thus both mythical and a myth.
- ItemOpen AccessThe new South African Parliament : an evaluation of parliament's oversight function of the executive(1999) Monstad, Torill; Schrire, RobertThe aim of this study is to evaluate how the new and democratically elected South African Parliament as an institution has been able to hold the executive accountable for their activities. Accountability of the rulers has been identified as a central element In democratic government. In representative democracies there are two major models of government: presidential and parliamentary government. These two models have different methods for dealing with the issue of legislative oversight. Literature shows that this function is more effective in presidential systems than in parliamentary systems, since the presidential model provides a stronger constitutional framework for legislative oversight. The model that can be used to analyse South Africa is closely linked to the parliamentary model. However, the role of the President, the sovereign Constitution, and the anti-defection clause makes South Africa more of a hybrid-parliamentary model. As South Africa can be linked to the parliamentary model, this implies that Parliament will not be able to hold the executive effectively accountable. There are other non-constitutional factors that have an impact on Parliament's oversight function. In South Africa, the non-constitutional factors that have been in place in these five first years of democracy enhance the consequences of the parliamentary model. This means that these factors add to the existing provisions for ineffective accountability of the executive by Parliament. These are the large majority of the ANC, the strict internal discipline of the ANC, the weak opposition in Parliament, the lack of resources and staff in Parliament, and the lack of capacity, experience and expertise by the MP's. As the example of Sarafina 2 shows, these factors, and especially the large majority of the ANC in Parliament, add to the inability of the new South African Parliament to effectively hold the executive accountable.
- ItemRestrictedParty Tricks(University of KwaZulu-Natal, 1994-01) Schrire, RobertUnlike general elections elsewhere in the world, the South African election has not been dominated by parties competing for votes but by the debate between participants and non-participants. The greater drama is between those who accept the rules of the new electoral game and those who do not - and the degree to which violence and the threat of violence influences the outcomes.
- ItemOpen AccessThe political economy of European Monetary Union after the end of the Bretton Woods financial system(2009) De Masi, Fabio; Schrire, RobertThe post-Bretton Woods financial system and the globalisation of financial markets have pronounced the unequal distribution of financial power across nation states. The majority of member countries in the eurozone with previously little financial power have chosen monetary integration as a response to globalisation. On the other hand, countries with substantial financial power such as Germany agreed to monetary integration for the sake of a mercantilist economic agenda and broader political goals.
- ItemOpen AccessPost-conflict private sector development : promoting durable peace : What are the characteristics and short comings of economic development in post-independent, sub-Saharan Africa : examples from Mozambique?(2012) Walker, Jessica Ayana; Schrire, RobertIn times of war the private sector adapts, often to function informally, and can serve to either perpetuate conflict or to incentivize peace. Accordingly, the private sector is a powerful tool that can be utilized during post-conflict reconstruction to enable sustain- able peace and economic development. After a conflict, in an effort to establish a means of survival outside of the war economy, there is a pressing need for the population to have a means by which to provide a livelihood and productively contribute to society. Establishing sustainable economic exchange and developing social capital between various members of society is one mechanism by which to achieve restorative justice and disincentivize conflict. ...this paper argues for a hybrid approach to private sector development that includes both the investment climate and interventionist methods to disincentivize a return to conflict.