Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T14:55:00.487Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The pitfalls of power sharing in a new democracy: the case of the National Party in South Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 August 2020

Neil Southern
Neil Southern*
Affiliation:
Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK
*
Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A key political feature of South Africa's transformation was the African National Congress, the National Party and Inkatha Freedom Party working together in a grand coalition. This arrangement was praised by leading power-sharing theorist Arend Lijphart. The unity government began in 1994 but two years later the National Party withdrew. This article explores power sharing during the initial phase of the settlement and discusses three aspects of it. First, the South African example points to the electoral drawbacks of power sharing for minor parties. Second, the National Party's participation in the coalition stifled the early development of substantial political opposition which slowed the pace of democratic consolidation. Third, participation in a power-sharing arrangement undermined the National Party's electoral fortunes contributing to its dissolution in 2005. This was an unexpected outcome for a party which had co-authored the country's settlement a little over a decade earlier.

Keywords

Arend Lijphartpower-sharingNational PartySouth Africaethno-racial partyelectoral demise
Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 58 , Issue 2 , June 2020 , pp. 281 - 299
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Andewag, R. 2000. ‘Consociational democracy’, Annual Review of Political Science 3: 509–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Apter, D. 1962. ‘Some reflections on the role of a political opposition in new nations’, Comparative Studies in Society and History 4, 2: 154–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BBC 1995. The Death of Apartheid – the Whites’ Last Stand. Documentary available on YouTube, accessed 9.8.2015.Google Scholar
Binningsbo, H. 2013. ‘Power sharing, peace and democracy: any obvious relationships?’, International Area Studies Review 16, 1: 89–112.Google Scholar
Cheeseman, N. 2011. ‘The internal dynamics of power-sharing in Africa’, Democratization 18, 2: 336–65.Google Scholar
Cheeseman, N. & Tendi, B.-M.. 2010. ‘Power-sharing in comparative perspective: the dynamics of ‘unity government’ in Kenya and Zimbabwe’, Journal of Modern African Studies 48, 2: 203–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Connors, M. 1996. ‘The eclipse of consociationalism in South Africa's democratic transition’, Democratization 3, 4: 420–34.Google Scholar
De Klerk, F.W. 1999. The Last Trek: a new beginning. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Deseret News. 1996. ‘National Party Pulls out of Mandela's Government.’ <http://www.deseretnews.com/article/488324/NATIONAL-PARTY-PULLS-OUT-OF-MANDELAS-GOVERNMENT.html?pg=all>, accessed 27.8.2019., accessed 27.8.2019.' href=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Deseret+News.+1996.+‘National+Party+Pulls+out+of+Mandela's+Government.’+,+accessed+27.8.2019.>Google Scholar
Du Toit, P. 2003. ‘Why post-settlement settlements?’, Journal of Democracy 14, 3: 104–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans-Pritchard, E.E. 1940. The Nuer: a description of the modes of livelihood and political institutions of a Nilotic people. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Ferree, K. 2004. ‘The micro-foundations of ethnic voting: evidence from South Africa.’ Afrobarometer Working Paper No. 40. <http://www.afrobarometer.org./papers/AfropaperNo40-1.pdf>>Google Scholar
Ferree, K. 2006. ‘Explaining South Africa's racial census’, Journal of Politics 68, 4: 803–15.Google Scholar
Garcia-Rivero, C. 2006. ‘Race, class and underlying trends in party support in South Africa’, Party Politics 12, 1: 57–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giliomee, H. 2003. The Afrikaners: biography of a people. Cape Town: Tafelberg.Google Scholar
Giliomee, H. 2006. ‘Liberalism in South Africa and its enemies’, in Shain, M., ed. Opposing Voices: liberalism and opposition in South Africa today. Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball, 59–74.Google Scholar
Giliomee, H., Myburg, J. & Schlemmer, L.. 2001. ‘Dominant party rule, opposition parties and minorities in South Africa’, Democratization 8, 1: 161–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guelke, A. 1996. ‘The impact of the end of the Cold War on the South African transition’, Journal of Contemporary African Studies 14, 1: 87–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guelke, A. 2005. Rethinking the Rise and Fall of South Africa. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guelke, A. 2012. Politics in Deeply Divided Societies. Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Hartzell, C. & Hoddie, M.. 2015. ‘The art of the possible: power sharing and post-civil war democracy’, World Politics 67, 1: 37–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hill, M. 1996. ‘De Klerk's National Party pulls out of South Africa's Unity Government’, The Baltimore Sun. <http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1996-05-10/news/1996131143_1_national-party-south-africa-klerk>..' href=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Hill,+M.1996.+‘De+Klerk's+National+Party+pulls+out+of+South+Africa's+Unity+Government’,+The+Baltimore+Sun.+.>Google Scholar
Holborn, L. 2010. ‘The long shadow of apartheid: race in South Africa since 1994.’ Johannesburg: South African Institute of Race Relations.Google Scholar
Horowitz, D. 1985. Ethnic Groups in Conflict. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Horowitz, D. 2014. ‘Ethnic power sharing: three big problems’, Journal of Democracy 25, 2: 5–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hutchinson, S. 2001. ‘A curse from God? Religious and political dimensions of the post-1991 rise of ethnic violence in South Sudan’, Journal of Modern African Studies 39, 2: 307–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jung, C. & Shapiro, I.. 1995. ‘South Africa's negotiated transition: democracy, opposition, and the new constitutional order’, Politics & Society 23: 269–308.Google Scholar
Katzman, K. 2015. ‘Afghanistan: politics, elections, and government performance’, Congressional Research Service. <https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RS21922.pdf>, accessed 28.10.2015.,+accessed+28.10.2015.>Google Scholar
Kerr, M. 2005. Imposing Power Sharing: conflict and coexistence in Northern Ireland and Lebanon. Dublin: Irish Academic Press.Google Scholar
Knox, C. & Quirk, P.. 2000. Peace building in Northern Ireland, Israel and South Africa. London: Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krog, A. 1998. Country of my Scull. Johannesburg: Random House.Google Scholar
Lemarchand, R. 2007. ‘Consociationalism and power sharing in Africa: Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo’, African Affairs 106, 422: 1–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lijphart, A. 1977. Democracy in plural societies. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Lijphart, A. 1994. ‘Prospects for power sharing in the New South Africa’, in Reynolds, A., ed. Election '94 South Africa: the campaigns, results and future prospects. London: James Currey, 221–31.Google Scholar
Lijphart, A. 1998. South African democracy: majoritarian or consociational?’ Democratization 5, 4: 144–50.Google Scholar
Lijphart, A. 2002. ‘The wave of power-sharing democracy’, in Reynolds, A., ed. The Architecture of Democracy: constitutional design, conflict management, and democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Lijphart, A. 2004. ‘Constitutional design for divided societies’, Journal of Democracy 15, 2: 96–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lynch, G. & Crawford, G.. 2011. ‘Democratization in Africa 1990–2010: an assessment’, Democratization 18, 2: 275–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGarry, J. & O'Leary, B.. 2004. The Northern Ireland Conflict: consociational engagements. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manzo, K. & McGowan, P.. 1992. ‘Afrikaner fears and the politics of despair: understanding change in South Africa’, International Studies Quarterly 36: 1–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, L. & Vanberg, G.. 2008. ‘Coalition government and political communication’, Political Research Quarterly 61, 3: 502–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mehler, A. 2009. ‘Peace and Power Sharing in Africa: a not so obvious relationship’, African Affairs 108, 432: 453–73.Google Scholar
Meldrum, A. 2005. ‘Apartheid party bows out with apology’, The Guardian. <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/apr/11/southafrica.andrewmeldrum>, accessed 11.8.2015.,+accessed+11.8.2015.>Google Scholar
Ottmann, M. & Vullers, J.. 2015. ‘The Power-Sharing Event Dataset (PSED): a new dataset on the promises and the practices of power-sharing in post-conflict countries’, Conflict Management and Peace Science 32, 3: 327–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Philips, D. 2005. Power-Sharing in Iraq, Council on Foreign Relations, available at <http://www.cfr.org/content/publications/attachments/Iraq_CSR.pdf>, accessed 28.10.2015.,+accessed+28.10.2015.>Google Scholar
Pinaud, C. 2014. ‘South Sudan: civil war, predation and the making of a military aristocracy’, African Affairs 113/451: 192–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pottie, D. 2001. ‘The electoral system and opposition parties in South Africa’, Democratization 8, 1: 25–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rothchild, D. & Roeder, P.. 2005. ‘Power sharing as an impediment to peace and democracy’, in Roeder, P. & Rothchild, D., eds. Sustainable Peace: power and democracy after civil wars. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 29–50.Google Scholar
Sisk, T. & Stefes, C.. 2005. ‘Power sharing as an interim step in peace building: lessons from South Africa’, in Roeder, P. & Rothchild, D., eds. Sustainable Peace: power and democracy after civil wars. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 293–317.Google Scholar
Spears, I. 2000. ‘Understanding inclusive peace agreements in Africa: the problems of sharing power’, Third World Quarterly 21, 1: 105–18.Google Scholar
Spears, I. 2002. ‘Africa: the limits of power-sharing’, Journal of Democracy 13, 3: 123–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spears, I. 2013. ‘Africa's informal power-sharing and the prospects for peace’, Civil Wars 15, 1: 37–53.Google Scholar
Spence, J. 1997. ‘Opposition in South Africa’, Government and Opposition: An International Journal of Comparative Politics 32, 4: 522–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sriram, C. & Zahar, M.. 2009. ‘The perils of power-sharing: Africa and beyond’, Afrika Spectrum 44, 3: 11–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strauss, A. 1993. ‘The 1992 referendum in South Africa’, Journal of Modern African Studies 32, 2: 339–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, R. 1992. ‘South Africa: a consociational path to peace?’, Transformation 17: 1–11.Google Scholar
The Telegraph. 2016. ‘UN says it is ill-prepared for genocide in Burundi.’ <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/burundi/12096506/UN-says-it-is-ill-prepared-for-genocide-in-Burundi.html>, accessed 22.11.2017.,+accessed+22.11.2017.>Google Scholar
UNHCR 2017. ‘Burundi Situation 2017.’ <http://www.unhcr.org/uk/partners/donors/59244aa77/unhcr-burundi-situation-supplementary-appeal-january-december-2017.html?query=burundi>, 22.11.2017.,+22.11.2017.>Google Scholar
Vandeginste, S. 2014. ‘Governing ethnicity after genocide: ethnic amnesia in Rwanda versus ethnic power-sharing in Burundi’, Journal of Eastern African Studies 8, 2: 263–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vestergaard, M. 2001. ‘Who's got the map? The negotiation of Afrikaner identities in post-apartheid South Africa’, Daedalus 130, 1: 19–44.Google Scholar
Waldmeir, P. 1997. Anatomy of a Miracle. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company.Google Scholar
Wessels, L. 2008. ‘Negotiations, GNU, power-sharing and post-conflict reconstruction in South Africa’, in Kotze, D. & Solomon, H., eds. The State of Africa: post-conflict reconstruction and development. Pretoria: Africa Institute of South Africa, 45–63.Google Scholar