Southern Africa

Measuring democracy and human rights in Southern Africa

Upphovspersoner:	Davids, Yul Derek | Melber, Henning
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2002
Ämnesord:	Democratisation, Liberation, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Southern Africa, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

Are there ways and means of measuring democracy and “good governance”? The contributions to this Discussion Paper present attempts to do this by means of surveys on democratic attitudes in Mozambique and Namibia respectively as well as by exploring the degree of commitment to and violation of human rights in a comparative perspective in Namibia and South Africa. They illustrate attitudes by offering empirical evidence of the preferences and views of local people, as well as by examining the track record of a human rights culture. In doing so, by going beyond a level of theoretical analysis, they offer concrete evidence of attitudes prevalent among both individuals and state agencies in societies of Southern Africa.

Foreign aid, debt and growth in Zambia

Upphovspersoner:	Andersson, Per-Åke | Bigsten, Arne | Persson, Håkan
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2000
Ämnesord:	Zambia, Southern Africa, Development aid, external debt, economic development, investment, economic conditions, Business and economics, Ekonomi

This study first discusses the structural problems of Zambia and the policies of adjustment that have been tried. It then uses a computable general equilibrium model to analyse the impact of various strategies with regard to external resource transfers. It compares the impacts of foreign loans or grants to the private and the public sectors, as well as the impact of a turnaround of the country's fortunes with regard to its external terms of trade. The results of the policy analysis show that the scope for growth is highly dependent on the tightness of the external resource constraint.

Governance and state delivery in Southern Africa : examples from Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe

Upphovsperson:	Melber, Henning
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2007
Ämnesord:	political development, Democratization, Political power, Governance, Political culture, Post-independence, Southern Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Political science, Statsvetenskap

This Discussion Paper highlights in complementary ways problems and challenges for governance issues under centralised state agencies, which base their authority and legitimacy on a dominant party and its influence. The case study on Namibia argues for a need for parliamentary and administrative reform to improve the efficiency of lawmakers. The Botswana chapter explores the decision on the location of the country’s second university as an act without consultation of the local population. The Zimbabwe paper advocates an approach in favour of using the African Peer Review Mechanism as an instrument to assist in a change towards better governance. All the authors have intimate knowledge of the matters discussed through their own involvement with the respective cases and/or their individual positioning within these societies. This publication is among the final results of the project “Liberation and Democracy in Southern Africa” (LiDeSA), which was undertaken at the Institute between 2001 and 2006.

Political cultures in democratic South Africa

Upphovspersoner:	Neocosmos, Michael | Suttner, Raymond | Taylor, Ian | Melber, Henning
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2002
Ämnesord:	Democratisation, Human rights, Liberation, Nation Building, Reconciliation, ANC, South Africa, Southern Africa, Political science, Statsvetenskap

The democratic transition in South Africa that emerged during the 1990s and became manifest in a democratically elected government, has not yet brought to completion the post-Apartheid social and political transformation of that country. In fact, it has far from consolidated a new socio-political culture. The contributions to this Discussion Paper reflect upon different but related aspects of South African democracy after Apartheid as represented in a variety of social forces, institutions and individuals. They illustrate that societies in transition have to make sustained efforts to overcome the legacies of the past, and that the present reproduces some of the past structural constraints and patterns of power and control in the new framework. This publication has been compiled under the aegis of the research network on “Liberation and Democracy in Southern Africa” (LiDeSa), currently coordinated through the Nordic Africa Institute. The contributions were originally presented to a workshop organised in Cape Town in December 2001.

Aid and poverty reduction in Zambia : mission unaccomplished

Upphovspersoner:	Saasa, Oliver S. | Carlsson, Jerker
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2002
Ämnesord:	Zambia, Southern Africa, poverty, Economic conditions, Development aid, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

Zambia, a once prosperous African country, now has 73 percent of its people below the poverty line and by the early 1990s, the country had reached a level where the UN General Assembly included it on the list of the least developed countries. With crippling indebtedness amidst poor economic performance, Zambia is at present one of the world's most heavily indebted low-income countries. And poverty continues to take its toll with the province housing the capital city registering the highest increase in poverty over the 1996 to 1998 period. This means that, although rural areas have the highest poverty levels, Zambia's urban centres are fast catching up. With help from donors, poverty reduction is at the centre stage on the Zambia development agenda after almost two decades of externally prescribed experiments with adjustment and stabilisation as a panacea for welfare improvement. But despite significant aid volumes and structural reforms, the country is getting deeper and deeper into poverty. What is the missing link between aid and positive change? Is the problem mainly that the volume of aid is not sufficient and, as is often heard, more of it would make a difference? Is the sluggish social and economic progress in Zambia appropriately diagnosed and correct remedies and strategies prescribed? This book attempts to address these and related questions.

Sidor