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The liberal model and Africa : elites against democracy / Kenneth Good.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Good, Kenneth, 1933-
- Series:
- International political economy series (Palgrave (Firm))
- International political economy series
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Democracy.
- Elite (Social sciences).
- Botswana--Politics and government--1966-.
- Botswana.
- Politics and government.
- South Africa--Politics and government--1994-.
- South Africa.
- United States--Politics and government.
- United States.
- Physical Description:
- xv, 256 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.
- Place of Publication:
- Houndmills [England] ; New York : Palgrave, 2002.
- Summary:
- This book critically examines the realities of liberal democracy: its elitism and non-accountability; and its inequalities and injustices. Participatory systems and movements, whether in Athens, seventeenth and nineteenth-century England, or South Africa 1970-90, are more effective in satisfying the democratic aspirations of the people and in curtailing ambitious elites than what is passed off now as 'democracy.'By interrogating contemporary democratic regimes in the United States, and in Botswana and South Africa, the severe limitations and constraints inherent in liberal democracy are highlighted. The need for a clear evaluation of what constitutes democracy emerges as a powerful message of Kenneth Good's argument.
- Contents:
- Value of the Botswana Pula xii
- Part I Autocratic Elites and Enfeebled Masses: Africa, Botswana and South Africa 1
- 1 Autocratic Elites and Enfeebled Masses: Africa, Botswana and South Africa 3
- Capitalist barbarism 3
- Legitimized autocracy 6
- Toad Kings: old and new 7
- Barbarism intensified 9
- The insufficiency of elite democracy 13
- Empowered elites, passive masses 14
- Accountable to themselves 19
- 2 Routinized Injustice: The Situation of the San in Botswana 23
- The inheritance and the continuity 25
- Drought relief and food aid 28
- The low wages policy 30
- Cattle production and the absence of land rights 33
- Relocation and dispossession: repeated experiences 42
- Hunting and tourism 49
- Welfare: destitutes programme and pensions 57
- The Remote Area Development Programme (RADP): governmental keystone 60
- Routinized injustice: subordination in schooling and law 62
- Representations 65
- Part II The USA 69
- 3 The Liberal Capitalist Paradigm: Elitism and Injustice in the United States 71
- American capitalism 71
- American liberal democracy 76
- Manipulative elites and nihilistic liberalism 82
- Regulated/'stakeholder' capitalism and social democracy 85
- The American spectre 88
- Part III South Africa Prelude to South Africa 91
- 4 Elitism's Place in the ANC 93
- Talks and non-accountability 96
- Elite immunity and non-accountability 98
- Elite consensus, elite control 101
- Mangosuthu Buthelezi and the IFP 103
- Nurturing silence 107
- 5 Universalizing an Incomplete Predominance 110
- Deepening predominance 112
- Predominance and the opposition parties 113
- Elite non-accountability: the crimes and impunity of Madikizela-Mandela 116
- Predominance and the Mbeki-Zuma presidency 124
- Universalizing predominance 125
- Real predominance 127
- Predominance without content 127
- 6 Predominance and the Empowerment Goose 137
- The elite and big business 138
- Empowering the arms trade 142
- Getting rich quick 147
- The ANC and the promotion of black capitalism 152
- Entrenchment of the ruling elite 153
- Goose for the few, racism for the many 154
- The naked emperor: empowerment and racism 157
- Enduring alliances: elitism, racism and the people 161
- Part IV From Ancient to Future Worlds 165
- 7 Participatory Democracy: The Reality and the Continuing Aspiration
- Athens, Britain and South Africa 167
- The Levellers' participatory impulse 170
- Equality and self-determination 172
- Towards participatory democracy in South Africa 173
- The trade union movement and the UDF 175
- Organization against elitism 176
- COSATU and a highly-unionized society 182
- Extending democratization in South Africa 184
- The Unending Struggle 191.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 194-245) and index.
- ISBN:
- 0333790421
- OCLC:
- 183344883
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