Interest mediation and democratic transitions : NEDLAC and South Africa's experiment in Corporatism

Manji, Nadine

Interest mediation and democratic transitions : NEDLAC and South Africa's experiment in Corporatism

Master Thesis

2002

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Department of Political Studies

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Abstract

The release of Nelson Mandela in 1990 marked the beginning of a transition process during which South Africa would finally move from an authoritarian apartheid state to a democratic state that respected and upheld the basic principles of human rights. The field of ""transition politics"" is huge. It necessarily encompasses and is a reaction to the years of history prior to the period of transition, which may have (and has often) been marked by struggle, whether it was violent or passive, against the former regime. It covers areas as broad as the field of politics itself from constitution design to public administration reform. Ultimately the raison d'etre of a political transition period is encapsulated in the attempt to create a utopian ideal state or political entity which corrects the perceived injustices and faults of the system it is attempting to replace or redesign. This dissertation focuses on a small but nonetheless significant area of that attempt to create the ideal political system. It is an area than has been and remains particularly pertinent in South Africa and was particularly important during the transition period, namely the intermediation of the demands of interest groups, and in particular, the mediation of the demands of key producer interest groups.

Keywords

Democratic Governance

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