‘The People Shall Govern’: The Codification of Ideas

Abstract

This chapter looks at the formalising of the ANC’s ideas about democracy and at the framing of participation in constitutional language. It covers the period from the 1986 to the early 1990s during which the movement began to set out more formally, and in writing, what it envisaged in a democratic state. The chapter examines the ideas about citizen participation that emerged during this process, identifying two particularly important shifts: Firstly, a dampening of some of the ANC’s more radical commitments to popular participation and a new commitment to political pluralism and the protection of individual rights; and, secondly, the linking of participatory democracy to local government specifically. The ANC’s acceptance during this period of some classically ‘liberal democratic’ principles was a key contributor to the shaping of South Africa’s democratic framework. The location of participatory democracy in the local sphere was especially critical for the legislation that followed. The chapter brings together tensions in the theory and practice of democracy amongst civic and community representatives involved in local government negotiation, and the more centralised version of participation amongst the national ANC leadership.