Popular attitudes towards the South African electoral system
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2002
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University of Cape Town
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At its simplest, any formal review of the type of electoral system that South Africa has, has three broad options. Firstly, it could conclude that things should be left as they are. Secondly, it could conclude that radical reforms are necessary and call for a shift to a fundamentally different system based only on constituency representation. Or thirdly, it could call for moderate reforms to address the weaknesses of a proportional representation system by infusing it with elements of constituency representation, while guaranteeing overall proportionality of legislative seats to votes. To what extent can the views of ordinary South Africans inform such a choice? The task of measuring citizens' preferences on this issue is daunting even to the most optimistic public opinion researcher. Certainly, those South Africans who have voted in both national and local government elections now have at least some exposure to different kinds of electoral systems, to which middle-aged and older white citizens add the memories of a purely constituent based system. However, the degree to which people have internalised what happens once they cast their vote, or its implications for the behaviour of elected officials and party leaders, is certainly open to question. In order to provide the Electoral Task Team with the most useful information on public attitudes, this survey of public opinion focuses, firstly, on measuring public views of the system they have in front of them and, secondly on assessing what they want out of a voting system in general. The responses reveal the following conclusions to the three broad choices outlined above. There would be little public support for a radical shift toward a first-past-the-post, single-member constituency system. This is good news for the ETT since the Constitution requires that any system result 'in general, in proportional representation'. In fact, South Africans appreciate the achievements of the current system that maximises many values that a first-past-the-post system would have difficulty providing, such as proportionality, and also maximum inclusiveness and fairness. There is minimal preference for the type of candidate centered, United States-style weak party system that a first-past-the-post system can encourage. Indeed, for the most part, people are happy with the present system.
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Mattes, R., & Southall, R. (2002). Popular attitudes toward the South African electoral system. Centre for Social Science Research: University of Cape Town.