Democracy, traditional leadership and the International Economy in South Africa

The paper argues that in order to adequately analyse the development of postcolonial democracy - in this case South Africa - a theoretical model has to take into account the context within which that democratic experiment finds itself in. This context is shaped by the international political economy, the circulation of a democracy discourse at both the level of global and local political culture, and the history of state-formation. The paper explores what might explain the resurgence of purportedly 'traditional' modes of governance, symbolised by the 'chief' across several rural landscapes. It argues that the inability of the state to affect fundamental changes in the social, political and economic conditions of the rural hinterlands has created a situation in which local power holders are able to redefine traditional cultural values. In the process of doing so, these local power holders both shape and are shaped by a global discourse of what democracy might be and mean. The paper highlights the debate concerning notions of 'African' forms of democracy, embodied most starkly by some of Nelson Mandela’s writings, which hold that village level deliberation and chieftaincy based upon community consensus may be more appropriate models of democracy than western versions based upon the notions of electoral contestation. This argument stands in sharp contrast to conventional approaches to democracy which would suggest that traditional leadership is an anachronism of lesser developed countries and stands in contrast to western democratic norms and values.

Una teoría económico-política de partidos competitivos

RESUMEN:Los partidos políticos se dirigen a ciertos grupos sociales y distritos electorales a los que pretenden representar y de los cuales esperan obtener apoyo electoral en su búsqueda de votos y cargos electorales. ¿Por qué y cómo desarrollan preferencias en su política los partidos? En general, ¿cómo podemos explicar la racionalidad del partido en condiciones de incertidumbre y complejidad? El artículo desarrolla una teoría económico-política de comportamiento de partidos que sostiene que el análisis debería basarse solamente en los «actores» individuales. A partir del postulado de Demsetz que sostiene que la mejor forma de estudiar los partidos es considerarlos como proveedores de unos «beneficios colaterales», este estudio sostiene que las opciones electorales y de programa de un partido son el resultado de una coalición dominante intrapartido formada por individuos que consiguen imponer sus preferencias en el partido. «La racionalidad del partido» no se basa en factores sistémicos u opciones racionales generados por la organización misma sino por grupos de actores dentro del partido que compiten no sólo con otros rivales dentro del mismo partido sino también con otros partidos. ABSTRACT:Political parties target certain social groups and constituencies which they claim to represent and from whom they hope to obtain electoral support in their quest for votes and electoral office. Why and how do parties develop policy preferences? More generally, how can we account for party rationality under conditions of uncertainty and complexity? The article develops a «political economy» theory of party behavior which maintains that individual actors ought to be the only focus of analysis. Building upon Demsetz's argument that parties are best studied as providers of «amenity potential», the study contends that a party's electoral and policy choices are the product of a dominant intra-party coalition of individuals who are able to impose their preferences on the party. «Party rationality» is not shaped by systemic factors or rational choices by the organization itself but by groups of intra-party actors who are in competition not only with other intra-party rivals but other parties

The Labour Government, the Treasury and the £6 pay policy of July 1975

The 1974-79 Labour Government was elected in a climate of opinion that was fiercely opposed to government intervention in the wage determination process, and was committed to the principles of free collective bargaining in its manifestoes. However, by December 1974 the Treasury was advocating a formal incomes policy, and by July 1975 the government had introduced a £6 flat rate pay norm. With reference to archival sources, the paper demonstrates that TUC and Labour Party opposition to incomes policy was reconciled with the Treasury's advocacy by limiting the Bank of England‟s intervention in the foreign exchange market when sterling came under pressure. This both helped to achieve the Treasury's objective of improving the competitiveness of British industry, and acted as a catalyst for the introduction of incomes policy because the slide could be attributed to a lack of market confidence in British counter-inflation policy

Postpartum hemorrhage and postpartum depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.

OBJECTIVE To assess the postpartum depression (PPD) risk in women with postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) and moderators. METHODS We identified observational studies of PPD rates in women with versus without PPH in Embase/Medline/PsychInfo/Cinhail in 09/2022. Study quality was evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa-Scale. Our primary outcome was the odds ratio (OR, 95% confidence intervals [95%CI]) of PPD in women with versus without PPH. Meta-regression analyses included the effects of age, body mass index, marital status, education, history of depression/anxiety, preeclampsia, antenatal anemia and C-section; subgroup analyses were based on PPH and PPD assessment methods, samples with versus without history of depression/anxiety, from low-/middle- versus high-income countries. We performed sensitivity analyses after excluding poor-quality studies, cross-sectional studies and sequentially each study. RESULTS One, five and three studies were rated as good-, fair- and poor-quality respectively. In nine studies (k = 10 cohorts, n = 934,432), women with PPH were at increased PPD risk compared to women without PPH (OR = 1.28, 95% CI = 1.13 to 1.44, p < 0.001), with substantial heterogeneity (I2  = 98.9%). Higher PPH-related PPD ORs were estimated in samples with versus without history of depression/anxiety or antidepressant exposure (OR = 1.37, 95%CI = 1.18 to 1.60, k = 6, n = 55,212, versus 1.06, 95%CI = 1.04 to 1.09, k = 3, n = 879,220, p < 0.001) and in cohorts from low-/middle- versus high-income countries (OR = 1.49, 95%CI = 1.37 to 1.61, k = 4, n = 9197, versus 1.13, 95%CI = 1.04 to 1.23, k = 6, n = 925,235, p < 0.001). After excluding low-quality studies the PPD OR dropped (1.14, 95%CI = 1.02 to 1.29, k = 6, n = 929,671, p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS Women with PPH had increased PPD risk amplified by history of depression/anxiety, whereas more data from low-/middle-income countries are required

The politics of economic policy making in Britain : a re-assessment of the 1976 IMF crisis

Many existing accounts of the IMF crisis have argued that British policy was determined either by the exercise of structural power by markets through the creation of currency instability and the application of loan conditionality, or by demonstrating that only policies of a broadly monetarist persuasion would be sufficient to sustain confidence, a recognition which was reached through a process of policy learning. This paper offers a re-assessment of economic policy-making in Britain during the 1976 IMF crisis to show that policy change did not occur as a result of disciplinary market pressure or a process of social learning. It argues that state managers have to manage the contradictions between the imperatives of accumulation and legitimation, and can do so through the politics of depoliticisation. It then uses archival sources to show how significant elements of the core-executive had established preferences for deflationary policies, which were implemented in 1976 by using market rhetoric and Fund conditionality to shape perceptions about the range of issues within the government‟s scope for discretionary control

Residents' power and trust: A road to brand ambassadorship?

As key stakeholders in successful destination branding campaigns, residents have the potential to act as destination brand ambassadors. Based on the literature on destination branding, this study examines residents' brand ambassador behavior (BAB) in relation to power and trust in relevant authorities. As such, this research considers destination residents as 'citizens', which frames their relationship with local authorities. Using survey data from 651 Hong Kong permanent residents, this study finds psychological empowerment and public trust to be closely related. Structural equation modeling revealed that both variables positively influenced residents' intentions to engage in BAB. Implications and future research directions are presented at the end of this study