The Electoral System and Accountability in the Democratic South Africa: Calls for Electoral Reform

Anthony Tshwarelo Malapane ()
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Anthony Tshwarelo Malapane: Gauteng Provincial Legislature

A chapter in Military, Politics and Democratization in Southern Africa, 2023, pp 171-189 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract ElectionsElections are a vital element of democracyDemocracy, and they play a central role in the establishment of governments. The value of electionsElections in a democracyDemocracy has been touted as fostering peaceful political transitionsPolitical transition from one regime to the other. There is generally a link between electionsElections and democracyDemocracy, but electionsElections do not equal democracyDemocracy. This asserts that not all electionsElections are democratic, and therefore, electionsElections may not always lead to peaceful transitionsPeaceful transitions. While regular electionsElections are held, some political leaders refuse to accept their outcomes and in other instances, they are mired by manipulation, violence and fraud. For example, in the 2021 Ugandan presidential electionsElections, opposition candidates were not free to campaign and contest fairly against President Yoweri Museveni who won his 6th presidential term after 35 years in power. Candidates were either barred from openly campaigning or arrested. Despite the challenges, electionsElections are a crucial vehicle for democracyDemocracy in South Africa, and therefore, there is a need to study the electoral systemElectoral system and related systems on how they ensure stable transitions and in turn accountabilityAccountability. This is amid the persistent calls for electoral reformElectoral reform as despite what is supposedly referred as peaceful and stable political transitionsPolitical transition, accountabilityAccountability is elusive.

Keywords: Accountability; Democracy; Elections; electoral system; Political parties; Voting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-35229-4_9

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