The Institutions of Representative Democracy

This paper charts the development of the two institutions most central to the nature of representative democracy in South Africa: the electoral system and the National Assembly.2 It reviews how developments since 1994 have shaped the institutional context in which political parties operate and compete for power. The paper first considers how the National Assembly has developed over the past ten years, reviewing the performance of parliament and its role in the consolidation of democracy. The second part of the paper focuses on the electoral system, reviewing the debate around electoral reform and discussing changes that have been introduced since 1999. In the conclusion, we suggest what the implications of these institutional developments are for the future of representative democracy in South Africa

Traditioneel recht en internationale actoren in Sub-Sahara Afrika: beleid en interventies op het vlak van 'transitional justice' en ontwikkelingshulp aan de justitiesector

Dit boek onderzoekt hoe internationale actoren in Sub-Sahara Afrika omgaan met traditionele rechtsinstellingen en mechanismen voor geschillenbeslechting in het kader van transitional justice en ontwikkelingshulp aan de justitiesector. Daartoe werden het beleid en de interventies van internationale actoren in zes landen (Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Oeganda, Sierra Leone en Zambia) ganalyseerd. Donoren blijken geen specifiek beleid te hebben inzake het gebruik van traditionele machanismen in transitional justice en laten zich vooral leiden door het belang van lokaal eigenaarschap en respect voor mensenrechten, hetgeen tot spanningen leidt. In ontwikkelingshulp aan de justitiesector is er al wat meer aandacht voor traditioneel recht, alhoewel dit beperkt blijft tot officiële traditioneelrechtelijke structuren, terwijl interventies inzake onofficieel recht aan actoren van het maatschappelijke middenveld worden overgelaten. Het boek analyseert de problemen die hieruit voortvloeien en formuleert voor elk domein en voor beide domeinen samen een reeks aanbevelingen voor toekomstige interventies

African perspectives on tradition and justice

This volume aims to produce a better understanding of the relationship between tradition and justice in Africa. It presents contributions of six African scholars related to current international discourses on access to justice and human rights and on the localisation of transitional justice. The contributions suggest that access to justice and appropriate, context-specific transitional justice strategies need to consider diversity and legal pluralism. In this sense, they all stress that dialogical approaches are the way forward. Whether it is in the context of legal reforms, transitional processes in post-war societies or the promotion of human rights in general, all contributors accentuate that it is by means of cooperation, conversation and cross-fertilization between different legal realities that positive achievements can be realized. The contributions in this book illustrate the perspectives on this dialectal process from those operating on the ground, and more specifically form Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Malawi, South-Africa, Uganda and Rwanda,. Obviously, the contributions in this volume do not provide the final outcome of the debate. Rather, they are part of it

Can parliaments enhance the quality of democracy on the African continent? an analysis of institutional capacity and public perceptions

While modern parliaments in Africa receive little attention in the scholarly literature, they are receiving considerable attention from the international donor community. Since the early 1990s, when many African countries resumed multi-party elections and democratic practices, legislative strengthening programmes have become an important part of international democracy assistance. Despite these programmes, our knowledge about Africa's current parliaments remains limited. They seem to be widely regarded as potential agents for democratic change but whether national legislatures are in fact enhancing the quality of democracy on the African continent is far from clear. This paper discusses two important issues that lie at the heart of the democracy enhancing potential of Africa's current parliaments: their institutional capacity and the way they are perceived by the citizens they represent. After a brief review of the existing literature on legislatures in Africa, the paper first considers whether parliaments have the institutional capacity to fulfill a meaningful role and then provides a detailed description of the autonomy of parliaments in 16 selected countries. The paper subsequently turns to the way Africans perceive and evaluate their parliaments. Do citizens see their legislatures as valuable institutions? Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings for the prospects of African parliaments becoming agents of democratic change

Water dynamics in the seven African countries of Dutch policy focus: Benin, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Sudan: report on Benin

ASC – Publicaties niet-programma gebonde

Testing a 1-D analytical salt intrusion model and its predictive equations in Malaysian estuaries

Little is known about the salt intrusion behaviour in Malaysian estuaries. Study of salt intrusion generally requires large amounts of data, especially if 2-D or 3-D numerical models are used; thus, in data-poor environments, 1-D analytical models are more appropriate. A fully analytical 1-D salt intrusion model, which is simple to implement and requires minimal data, was tested in six previously unsurveyed Malaysian estuaries (Kurau, Perak, Bernam, Selangor, Muar and Endau). The required data can be collected during a single day of observations. Site measurements were conducted during the dry season (June–August 2012 and February–March 2013) near spring tide. Data on cross-sections (by echo-sounding), water levels (by pressure loggers) and salinity (by moving boat) were collected as model input. A good fit was demonstrated between the simulated and observed salinity distribution for all six estuaries. Additionally, the two calibration parameters (the Van der Burgh coefficient and the boundary condition for the dispersion) were compared with the existing predictive equations. Since gauging stations were only present in some nested catchments in the drainage basins, the river discharge had to be up-scaled to represent the total discharge contribution of the catchments. However, the correspondence between the calibration coefficients and the predictive equations was good, particularly in view of the uncertainty in the river discharge data used. This confirms that the predictive salt intrusion model is valid for the cases studied in Malaysia. The model provides a reliable, predictive tool, which the water authority of Malaysia can use for making decisions on water abstraction or dredging