Democracy and distribution in highly unequal economies: the case of South Africa

dc.contributor.authorNattrass, Nicoli
dc.contributor.authorSeekings, Jeremy
dc.date.accessioned2016-07-04T14:13:10Z
dc.date.available2016-07-04T14:13:10Z
dc.date.issued2001
dc.date.updated2016-06-27T12:25:27Z
dc.description.abstractGiven that incomes in South Africa are distributed very unequally, it might be expected that the establishment of representative democracy would result in the adoption of redistributive policies. Yet overall inequality has not declined since I994. The electoral and party system provides uneven pressure for redistribution. The fact that poor South Africans have the vote ensures that some areas of public policy do help the poor. The post-apartheid government not only inherited a surprisingly redistributive set of social poli- cies (welfare, education and health care), but has made changes that entail even more redistribution. But these policies do little to help a core section of the poor in South Africa: the unemployed, and especially households in which no one is working. Other public policies serve to disadvantage this marginalised constituency: labour market and other economic policies serve to steer the economy down a growth path that shuts out many of the un- skilled and unemployed. The workings of these policies remain opaque, making it unlikely that poor citizens will use their vote to effect necessary policy reforms.en_ZA
dc.identifierhttp://dx.doi.org/ 10.1017/S0022278X01003688
dc.identifier.apacitationNattrass, N., & Seekings, J. (2001). Democracy and distribution in highly unequal economies: the case of South Africa. <i>The Journal of Modern African Studies</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20202en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationNattrass, Nicoli, and Jeremy Seekings "Democracy and distribution in highly unequal economies: the case of South Africa." <i>The Journal of Modern African Studies</i> (2001) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20202en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationNattrass, N., & Seekings, J. (2001). Democracy and distribution in highly unequal economies: the case of South Africa. The journal of modern African studies, 39(03), 471-498.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn0022-278Xen_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Nattrass, Nicoli AU - Seekings, Jeremy AB - Given that incomes in South Africa are distributed very unequally, it might be expected that the establishment of representative democracy would result in the adoption of redistributive policies. Yet overall inequality has not declined since I994. The electoral and party system provides uneven pressure for redistribution. The fact that poor South Africans have the vote ensures that some areas of public policy do help the poor. The post-apartheid government not only inherited a surprisingly redistributive set of social poli- cies (welfare, education and health care), but has made changes that entail even more redistribution. But these policies do little to help a core section of the poor in South Africa: the unemployed, and especially households in which no one is working. Other public policies serve to disadvantage this marginalised constituency: labour market and other economic policies serve to steer the economy down a growth path that shuts out many of the un- skilled and unemployed. The workings of these policies remain opaque, making it unlikely that poor citizens will use their vote to effect necessary policy reforms. DA - 2001 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town J1 - The Journal of Modern African Studies LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2001 SM - 0022-278X T1 - Democracy and distribution in highly unequal economies: the case of South Africa TI - Democracy and distribution in highly unequal economies: the case of South Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20202 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/20202
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationNattrass N, Seekings J. Democracy and distribution in highly unequal economies: the case of South Africa. The Journal of Modern African Studies. 2001; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20202.en_ZA
dc.languageengen_ZA
dc.publisherCambridge University Pressen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentCentre for Social Science Research(CSSR)en_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.sourceThe Journal of Modern African Studiesen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=MOA
dc.titleDemocracy and distribution in highly unequal economies: the case of South Africaen_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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