South Africa Case Study

Question 1

Essential political features:

• legislative-executive system:
• legislature:
• lower house:
• upper house:
• division of power:
• main geographic subunit:
• electoral system for lower house:
• chief judicial body:

Answer 1

• parliamentary
• parliament
• National Assembly
• national council of provinces
• unitary
• provinces
• proportional representation
• constitutional court

Question 2

President

• how are they elected?
• title
• how can they be removed?
• abilities?

Answer 2

• elected from lower house
• head of state and government
• can be removed through vote of no confidence
• can call national referenda; dissolve National Assembly; ans sometimes call for new elections (no snap elections tho)

Question 3

Legislature

Answer 3

Parliament

Question 4

Lower house:

• name
• number of members
• electoral system
• responsibilities

Answer 4

• National Assembly
• 400 members
• 5 year terms
• proportional representation (no threshold)
• elect and remove president; prepare/pass legislation; approve of a national budget
• 3/4 vote can override upper house

Question 5

Upper house

• name
• number of members
• method of election
• responsibilities

Answer 5

-national council of provinces
-90 members
-
-9 indirectly elected from provincial legislature + the premier (executive) of each province
-mostly there to represent provincial/local issues at the national level
-decisions can be overridden by a 3/4 vote from the lower house

Question 6

Judiciary:

• how many members
• how elected
• terms

Answer 6

• 11 members
• appointed by President at the discretion of a judicial commission
• 12 year terms

Question 7

Local government:

• how many provinces and what are their govts?
• term
• executive
• election factoid
• responsibilities

Answer 7

• 9 provinces and each had its own elected legislature
• 5 year terms
• each Assembly elects a premier who serves as executive of the province
• national and provincial elections occur at the same time
• each province has a constitution; passes local legislation; and sends delegates to the national council of provinces

Question 8

ANC (African National Congress)

Answer 8

• fear that it could turn authoritarian
• current President Jacob Zuma is much less polished than Mandela, or Mbeki
• internal division

Question 9

Other parties:

Answer 9

• COPE (congress of the people): 1st black opposition party to ANC
• Angang South Africa: 2nd opposition party to ANC
• EFF (economic freedom fighters): 3rd to split from ANC
• DA (democratic alliance): successor to white anti apartheid party
• IFP: Zulu freedom party

Question 10

Truth and reconciliation commission

Answer 10

Led by archbishop Desmond Tutu—> to find the truth of the damages done in both sides of the race troubles

Question 11

Political economy

Answer 11

• good in Africa but bad in the rest of the world
• youth unemployment
• HIV/AIDS
• education inequality
• white brain drain

Question 12

Economic programs

Answer 12

• GEAR (growth employment and redistribution): economic liberalization calls
• BEE (Broad based black economic empowerment): affirmative action program to get blacks in all parts of the economy
• COSATU (congress of South African trade unions): promote worker rights

Question 13

Foreign relations

Answer 13

• regional powerhouse, but internationally still a developing country
• big diplomatic/mediator presence in the region
• helped in formation of the AU; the SADC (South African development community); and NEPAD (new partnership for Africa’s development)