Racial animosity and political party partisanship in South Africa: the case of the African National Congress and the Black African majority

As it is in many countries, racial rhetoric is a feature of South African national government elections. The use of such rhetoric provokes the question, how much is political party support in the country driven by interracial animosities? Using the nationally representative public opinion dataset, the South African Social Attitudes Survey, this article looks at party closeness to the African National Congress (ANC) amongst the black African population. The ANC is one of the oldest and most powerful political parties on the African continent and currently dominates South Africa’s parliamentary government. Constructing four indexes of racial attitudes and behaviours, the article investigates whether partisanship with the ruling party can be predicted by racial animosity. The period under investigation is 2010–2014. Bivariate and multivariate quantitative techniques are employed to test the relationship between ANC partisanship and racial animosity. The results of this investigation show that racial enmity in the country is troublingly widespread. Public opinion analysis, however, found no correlation between racial acrimony and ANC partisanship. Other factors are driving black African identification with the country’s ruling party. The implications of these results for the study for political party support in South Africa are discussed and future avenues of research presented.     

Non-racialism and the African National Congress: views from the branch

South Africa's ruling party is well known as an organisation that supports the ideal of non-racialism. However, the extent to which the African National Congress (ANC) has defined and instrumentalised the concept of non-racialism is contested. This article looks at the history of non-racialism in the party and more recent interpretations by ANC leadership, before examining how non-racialism is understood, 19 years into democracy, by members of the party. Based on interviews with over 45 ANC branch members, the article describes how members, broadly speaking, have deep-seated concerns with non-racialism in the ANC and in society more generally. There is recognition from ANC branch members that race relations have significantly improved since the ANC moved into government; however, they feel not enough change has taken place and that racial tensions are impeding social cohesion and concomitant growth and progress in the country. There is division among members in regards to the efficacy and impact of the party's racially based policies such as affirmative action as well as the manner in which race potentially influences leadership opportunities within the party. Furthermore, the article shows that there is lack of definition and direction on the part of the ANC in regards to the instrumentalisation of non-racialism, and this deficiency has negative consequences for racial cohesion in the party. The article concludes by discussing how investigations into party branches through the lens of non-racialism, highlights more deep-seated concerns about local-level party democracy and a party fractured at the grassroots.     

十六大以来党的生态文明建设思想探析

十六大以来,党的生态文明建设思想的形成和发展经历了准备酝酿、明确提出和科学定位三个历史阶段。生态文明建设思想的实现路径主要有五个方面。其中,调整经济结构和转变经济增长方式是根本途径,建设资源节约型和环境友好型社会是实践平台,建立健全法律法规和制度体系是坚实保障,扩大国际生态环境合作和交流是重要内容,强化宣传教育和扩大社会参与是重要方法。     

在党的十六大精神指引下推进高等教育创新

当前,高校面临的一项重要而紧迫的任务,就是要认真学习贯彻党的十六大精神,以江泽民"三个代表"和教育创新的重要思想为指导,坚持党委领导下的校长负责制,推进观念创新、制度创新、教学创新、学术创新,加强师资队伍建设,造就高素质创新人才,推出高水平创新成果,开创高等教育的新局面。     

充分发挥教代会载体作用努力推进校务公开

教代会是学校实行校务公开制度的重要途径和载体,在新形势下工会要充分发挥 教代会载体作用,认真扎实地推进校务公开工作。     

关于扩大人大财政监督职责的几个问题

在我国,审议财政预算及其执行情况,是各级人民代表大会及其常务委员会监督政府机关的工作,规范政府行为的重要途径。由于历史和现实诸多因素的制约,目前我国人大财政预算监督质量还不高。对此我们认为:一、应该对人大的财政监督职能及其实施有更加明确、规范的规定。二、针对我国目前预算实施所出现的问题,考虑(1)建立重大项目的特别全程审查制度。(2)加强人大对部门预算的审查。三、明确“第二财政”的财政性,把他的使用纳入人大的审查和监督的范围。     

机遇、创新与坚持"三个代表"重要思想 --学习十六大报告的几点体会

江泽民同志在十六大报告中指出,21世纪头20年是中国发展的战略机遇期,中国将进入全面建设小康社会的战略转折时期。面对机遇和挑战,中国共产党始终高举邓小平理论和“三个代表”的旗帜,坚持理论创新,以理论创新推动制度创新和各项事业的创新,在解放思想中统一思想,在应对挑战中倍加珍惜党的团结。     

完善职代会制度与《职代会条例》的修订

198 6年颁布实施的《职代会条例》对推动基层民主政治建设、建立完善职代会制度、做好工会工作、促进国民经济和企业的改革与发展发挥了重要作用。随着市场经济的发展和我国政治经济形势的发展以及职代会、工会工作领域的拓宽 ,《条例》在许多方面存在着明显的历史局限性和滞后性 ,必须对之进行修订。     

表见代表及其适用--兼评<合同法>第50条

表见代表是指法人代表的行为虽然超越了法人的代表权限,但善意相对人基于一定外观相信其有代表法人之权而与之从事交易行为,该代表行为有效的制度.我国立法对这一制度的规定仅仅是开始,仍有许多配套规定亟待完善.