The limits of participatory democracy and the rise of the informal politics of mediated representation in South Africa
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Date
2016
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Abstract
In general, South Africans view the formal participatory institutions
of their state as ineffective mechanisms for the realization of their
demands. Conversely, the reach of formalized civil society is
limited in terms of policy impact, and social movements have
little presence on the ground outside of the larger townships of
the major metropolitan cities. In this context, the tensions
between communities, civil society actors, and the state, often
linked to enduring forms of poor governance, are increasingly
played out in non-state and extra-institutional arenas, sometimes
through the idiom of protest. Marginalized communities rely on
various kinds of informal political practices to access rights and
services from the state, or even to keep the state at bay. This
emerging informal politics, and the associated forms of mediated
representation, speaks to an ever-widening legitimacy gap
between state and society, and with it, an ever-precarious
participatory project.
Description
Keywords
State–society relation, South Africa, Participatory governance, Invited and invented space, Informal politics, Insurgency
Citation
Piper, L., & von Lieres, B. (2016). The limits of participatory democracy and the rise of the informal politics of mediated representation in South Africa. Journal of Civil Society, 12(3), 314-327