Dilemmas of public participation in policymaking in South Africa

• Authors: Samuel Uwem Umoh

Title variants

PL

Problemy dotyczące udziału społeczeństwa w kształtowaniu polityki publicznej w Republice Południowej Afryki

Abstracts

PL

Skuteczność demokracji przedstawicielskiej w Republice Południowej Afryki jest wątpliwa, na co wskazują powtarzające się protesty dotyczące świadczenia usług publicznych, potwierdzające, że opinie obywateli są niesłyszane, oraz brak zaufania do Parlamentu. W związku z tym posłowie opracowują strategie stanowiące przykład demokratycznych innowacji, które mają zaangażować obywateli w kształtowanie polityki publicznej jako platformy do dyskusji. W tym kontekście w artykule omówiono udział społeczeństwa w tworzeniu polityki publicznej oraz to, w jaki sposób spadek zaufania do Parlamentu stanowi przesłankę tworzenia demokratycznych innowacji jako sposobu na zwiększenie udziału obywateli w działaniach Parlamentu. W pracy zidentyfikowano również problemy, które dotyczą zaangażowania publicznego. Dane pochodzą z wywiadów z 16 posłami, obserwacji debat plenarnych, protokołów parlamentarnych, raportów Hansarda, protokołów komisji selekcyjnych i stałych oraz wystąpień parlamentarnych. Wyniki badań sugerują, że pomimo złożoności procesu zwiększania zaangażowania społecznego w Republice Południowej Afryki Parlament od 1994 r. poczynił znaczne postępy w poszerzaniu demokratycznych innowacji wykorzystywanych w tym celu. Niemniej jednak osoby znajdujące się w niekorzystnej sytuacji nadal są marginalizowane w procesie kształtowania polityki publicznej. W artykule wskazano potrzebę edukacji politycznej i udziału społeczeństwa w tworzeniu polityki publicznej w celu wzmocnienia instytucji demokratycznych w Republice Południowej Afryki.

EN

The effectiveness of representative democracy in South Africa is questionable, given the lack of confidence in the Parliament and the recurring service delivery protests, which indicate that citizens' opinions are unheard. Due to this, the Members of Parliament (MPs) devise strategies such as democratic innovation to involve citizens in policymaking as the platform for deliberation. Given this context, the paper discusses public participation in policymaking and how declining confidence in the Parliament necessitates democratic innovations as a panacea for increasing citizens' participation in Parliament activities. The paper also identifies dilemmas that occur in public involvement. Data was generated by interviews (with 16 MPs), observation of plenary debates, minutes of the Parliament, Hansard, minutes of Select and Standing Committees, and Parliamentary speeches. Findings suggest that despite the complexity of implementing public participation in South Africa, the Parliament has made significant progress since 1994 in widening democratic innovation to facilitate public participation. However, disadvantaged people continue to be marginalized from policymaking. The paper suggests that there is a need for political education and public participation in policymaking to strengthen democratic institutions in South Africa.

Keywords

EN

parliament; national assembly; policymaking; public participation; South Africa; democratic innovation; proportional representation

PL

parlament; zgromadzenie narodowe; kształtowanie polityki publicznej; partycypacja publiczna; Republika Południowej Afryki; innowacje demokratyczne; reprezentacja proporcjonalna

• Publisher: Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie
• Journal: Studia z Polityki Publicznej
• Year: 2022
• Volume: 9
• Issue: 4(36)
• Pages: 9-27

Dates

published

2022

Contributors

author

Samuel Uwem Umoh

• University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, Republika Południowej Afryki

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Identifiers

DOI

10.33119/KSzPP/2022.4.1

Biblioteka Nauki

2148699