Africana Periodical Literature 
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 Periodical article |
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| Title: | How the South African Electoral System Was Negotiated |
| Author: | Lodge, Tom |
| Year: | 2003 |
| Periodical: | Journal of African Elections |
| Volume: | 2 |
| Issue: | 1 |
| Period: | April |
| Pages: | 71-76 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | South Africa |
| Subjects: | constitutional reform electoral systems Ethnic and Race Relations Politics and Government |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the negotiations on the formation of the electoral system in South Africa between 1991 and 1998. Settling the arrangements by means of which South Africa's postapartheid government would be elected was one of the less contentious tasks of those involved in the 1992-1994 constitutional negotiations. This was partly because before the negotiations began three of the main parties (the Democratic Party, DP, the National Party, NP, and the ANC) favoured the adoption of a system of proportional representation. Agreement was also relatively easy to secure over the question of which body would run the elections. However, matters that would affect the election outcome as opposed to matters of principle were the most heatedly debated, particularly the single or double-ballot voting system. In conclusion, the paper answers the question of how South African parties were able to arrive at an agreement about an electoral system which would result in dramatic political changes. It argues that, first, the definition of the electoral system was only one element of the constitutional settlement and gains which may have been achieved by one party at the expense of others in the negotiations over elections were often balanced by concessions in other spheres; second, the most important parties recognized the desirability of making concessions; and, third, the negotiation procedures themselves facilitated agreement. Bibliogr. [ASC Leiden abstract] |
