Democratic Elections in a Global Context

There is agreement amongst political scientists and other scholars that there is a relationship between democracy, development and good governance. Democracy is a solid foundation for political and economic development. Democracy is also the best tool for managing social and economic conflict. There is also agreement that elections are central to the development of democracy in any country. Whilst elections on their own cannot guarantee development they are an important instrument through which all groups, including the most vulnerable, elect rulers of their choice. Once elected into power, these rulers assume the political power and authority to determine and shape national socio-economic policies and programmes that should result in better standards of living for the electorate whilst at the same time respond to the demands of economic globalisation. These rulers also decide on who forms the machinery of government, namely the executive, the judiciary, et cetera.    &nbsp

Rethinking Equality in the Global Society

The future of affirmative action, especially in the area of American higher education, has been called into question by the 1996 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Hopwood v. State of Texas, requiring race-blind admission to state universities in Texas, and the passage of Proposition 209 in California. The seemingly endless American debate on this issue almost entirely has ignored the fact that other countries faced with comparable problems of remedying the effects of past discrimination have developed programs and acquired experience from which Americans might learn. Further, the legal debate has not been adequately informed by the social science disciplines. This conference was intended to expand discussion at a critical moment by introducing these missing perspectives