Aiding democracy? Donors and civil society in South Africa

Third World Quarterly

Volumn 21, Issue 5, 2000, Pages 815-830

  Hearn, Julie ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF LONDON   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

AID FLOW; CIVIL SOCIETY; DEMOCRATIZATION; NORTH-SOUTH RELATIONS;

SOUTH AFRICA;

EID: 0033667977     PISSN: 01436597     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/713701079     Document Type: Article

References (49)

1. C Landsberg, 'Directing from the stalls? The international community and the South African negotiation forum', in S Friedman & D Atkinson (eds), The Small Miracle: South Africa's Negotiated Settlement, Randburg; Ravan Press, 1994, p 276.
2. Interview with the director of a German political foundation in South Africa, 1998.
3. W Robinson has investigated the development of democracy assistance in US foreign policy comprehensively and critically in his ground-breaking Promoting Polyarchy: Globalization, US Intervention, and Hegemony, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. This article applies some of his broader conclusions to the post-1994 South African context, based on primary research carried out by the author in 1998.
4. Cited in Robinson, Promoting Polyarchy, p 51, from a chapter Huntington wrote, interestingly entitled 'The modest meaning of democracy'.
5. Robinson Promoting Polyarchy, p 69.
6. Cited in ibid p 89 from the Washington Post, 14 March 1982.
7. Robinson, Promoting Polyarchy, p 94.
8. Cited in ibid p 73.
9. According to one of the most recent and authoritative accounts, US democracy aid is a $500 million-a-year industry. See T Carothers, Aiding Democracy Abroad: The Learning Curve, Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1999.
10. See D Williams & T Young, 'Governance, the World Bank and liberal theory', Political Studies, 42(1), 1994. pp 84-100; P Landell-Mills, 'Governance, cultural change, and empowerment', The Journal of Modern African Studies, 30(4), 1992, pp 543-567; and B Beckman, 'The liberation of civil society: neo-liberal ideology and political theory', Review of African Political Economy, 58, 1993, pp 20-33.
11. See D Williams & T Young, 'Governance, the World Bank and liberal theory', Political Studies, 42(1), 1994. pp 84-100; P Landell-Mills, 'Governance, cultural change, and empowerment', The Journal of Modern African Studies, 30(4), 1992, pp 543-567; and B Beckman, 'The liberation of civil society: neo-liberal ideology and political theory', Review of African Political Economy, 58, 1993, pp 20-33.
12. See D Williams & T Young, 'Governance, the World Bank and liberal theory', Political Studies, 42(1), 1994. pp 84-100; P Landell-Mills, 'Governance, cultural change, and empowerment', The Journal of Modern African Studies, 30(4), 1992, pp 543-567; and B Beckman, 'The liberation of civil society: neo-liberal ideology and political theory', Review of African Political Economy, 58, 1993, pp 20-33.
13. See S Gibson, 'Aid and politics in Malawi and Kenya: political conditionally and donor support to the "human rights, democracy and governance" sector' in L. Wohlgemuth et al (eds) Common Security and Civil Society in Africa, Uppsala: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, 1999.
14. D Aitkinson, G Goetz, T Rapoo, M Reitzes & K Shubane, 'Changing models of civil society in South Africa', mimeo, Johannesburg: Centre for Policy Studies, 1996. p 4.
15. G Jakobsen, Denmark - South Africa: The Decades from Resistance to Reconstruction, Johannesburg: Ibis/INTERFUND, 1996.
16. USAID/South Africa, USAID/South Africa Briefing Book, 1995, p 1; and G Olsen, 'Europe and the promotion of democracy in post-cold war Africa: how serious is Europe and for what reasons?', African Affairs, 97(388), 1988, p 350. The Soviet Union, with its support for the liberation movement, was also a significant 'donor', and needs to be included in any discussion of foreign aid in this period.
17. USAID/South Africa, USAID/South Africa Briefing Book, 1995, p 1; and G Olsen, 'Europe and the promotion of democracy in post-cold war Africa: how serious is Europe and for what reasons?', African Affairs, 97(388), 1988, p 350. The Soviet Union, with its support for the liberation movement, was also a significant 'donor', and needs to be included in any discussion of foreign aid in this period.
18. Robinson, Promoting Polyarchy, p 356.
19. B Gills, J Rocamora, R Wilson (eds) Low Intensity Democracy: Political Power in the New World Order, London: Pluto Press, 1993.
20. See I Taylor, 'South Africa's "democratic transition" in a globalised world: the "change industry" and the promotion of polyarchy', unpublished working paper, January 2000, for an excellent study of how the ideological battle over democracy has been fought in South Africa. The paper draws broadly similar conclusions to those in this article about the process.
21. USAID/South Africa, USAID/South Africa Country Strategic Plan, 1997, p 110; interview with the director of the EU Foundation for Human Rights, 6 March 1998; OECD, Geographical Distribution of Financial Flows to Aid Recipients, Paris: OECD, 1997; and interview with the World Bank resident representative and the NGO liaison officer, 4 March 1998. Non-lending services amount to an annual $3 to $4 million Bank investment in the country. For more on the Bank's influence in South Africa see J Michie & V Padayachee (eds), The Political Economy of South Africa's Transition, London: Harcourt Brace, 1997.
22. USAID/South Africa, USAID/South Africa Country Strategic Plan, 1997, p 110; interview with the director of the EU Foundation for Human Rights, 6 March 1998; OECD, Geographical Distribution of Financial Flows to Aid Recipients, Paris: OECD, 1997; and interview with the World Bank resident representative and the NGO liaison officer, 4 March 1998. Non-lending services amount to an annual $3 to $4 million Bank investment in the country. For more on the Bank's influence in South Africa see J Michie & V Padayachee (eds), The Political Economy of South Africa's Transition, London: Harcourt Brace, 1997.
23. USAID/South Africa, USAID/South Africa Country Strategic Plan, 1997, p 110; interview with the director of the EU Foundation for Human Rights, 6 March 1998; OECD, Geographical Distribution of Financial Flows to Aid Recipients, Paris: OECD, 1997; and interview with the World Bank resident representative and the NGO liaison officer, 4 March 1998. Non-lending services amount to an annual $3 to $4 million Bank investment in the country. For more on the Bank's influence in South Africa see J Michie & V Padayachee (eds), The Political Economy of South Africa's Transition, London: Harcourt Brace, 1997.
24. USAID/South Africa, Country Strategic Plan, pp 13, 22.
25. Ibid. p 15; Danida, South Africa: Strategy for Danish - South African Development Cooperation, Copenhagen: Danida, 1995, p 19; interview with the Konrad Adenauer resident representative, 10 March 1998; and interview with the second secretary, Royal Netherlands Embassy, 6 March 1998.
26. Ibid. p 15; Danida, South Africa: Strategy for Danish - South African Development Cooperation, Copenhagen: Danida, 1995, p 19; interview with the Konrad Adenauer resident representative, 10 March 1998; and interview with the second secretary, Royal Netherlands Embassy, 6 March 1998.
27. Landsberg, 'Directing from the stalls?'
28. USAID/South Africa, Country Strategic Plan, p 18.
29. USAID/South Africa, Country Strategic Plan, p 5.
30. Danida, South Africa, p 22.
31. Aid data comes from USAID/South Africa, Country Strategic Plan; Danida, South Africa; Cida, Profile of Canadian Assistance to South Africa; and Sida, Development in Partnership: Sida and Bilateral Development Cooperation in Africa, Stockholm: Sida, 1997.
32. Aid data comes from USAID/South Africa, Country Strategic Plan; Danida, South Africa; Cida, Profile of Canadian Assistance to South Africa; and Sida, Development in Partnership: Sida and Bilateral Development Cooperation in Africa, Stockholm: Sida, 1997.
33. Aid data comes from USAID/South Africa, Country Strategic Plan; Danida, South Africa; Cida, Profile of Canadian Assistance to South Africa; and Sida, Development in Partnership: Sida and Bilateral Development Cooperation in Africa, Stockholm: Sida, 1997.
34. D Ryall, 'Caught between two worlds: understanding South Africa's foreign policy options', Third World Quarterly, 18(2), 1997, p 399.
35. Landsberg, 'Directing from the stalls?'.
36. Interviews with Friedrich Ebert Foundation programme manager, 26 February 1998; Friedrich Naumann Foundation project officer, 27 February 1998; and Konrad Adenauer resident representative, 10 March 1998.
37. National Endowment for Democracy (NED) grant descriptions, 1997.
38. 'IDASA; what we do', http:/www.idasa.org.za/acronyms/default.htm.
39. Centre for Policy Studies, Sector Assessment: 'USAID/South Africa democracy and governance programme', 1998, p 3.
40. Cited in H Marais, 'Annual reivew: the voluntary sector and development in South Africa 1996/97', Development Update, 1(3), 1997, p 25.
41. Centre for Policy Studies, 'USAID/South Africa democracy and governance programme,' p 3.
42. Marais, 'Annual review", p 20; and N Bentzen, J Cole & D Sogge, p 20. 'Funding for transformation in times of transition', a report of a mid-term review of the INTERFUND/Ibis Transitional Development Assistance Programme in South Africa 1994-98, p 20.
43. Marais, 'Annual review', p 20; and N Bentzen, J Cole & D Sogge, p 20. 'Funding for transformation in times of transition', a report of a mid-term review of the INTERFUND/Ibis Transitional Development Assistance Programme in South Africa 1994-98, p 20.
44. R Mattes & H Thiel, 'Consolidation and public opinion in South Africa,' Journal of Democracy, 9(1), 1998, p 103; and Marais, 'Annual review', p 20.
45. R Mattes & H Thiel, 'Consolidation and public opinion in South Africa,' Journal of Democracy, 9(1), 1998, p 103; and Marais, 'Annual review', p 20.
46. Ling & Stepan, 1996, cited in Centre for Policy Studies, 'USAID/South Africa democracy and governance programme', 1998.
47. Mattes & Thiel, 'Consolidation and public opinion in South Africa'.
48. Focus, 1998, pp 22-28.
49. See Taylor, 'South Africa's "democratic transition" in a globalised work', for Slabbert's close association with South African business interests and his very open defence of liberal democracy as the best political guarantor of capitalism.