National Party Government Research Articles

Ethnic conflicts in Sri Lanka: An analytical study based on Post-colonial Sri Lankan English literature

Sri Lanka is a multi-communal country that consists of four major ethnicities, namely: Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims.The country has experienced several ethnical conflicts and riots since 1948. As a result, certain literary works in post-colonial Sri Lankan literature deals with war and ethnic conflicts in Sri Lanka. On this basis, this study was conducted to analyze the post-colonial Sri Lankan English literature in relation to ethnical conflicts in Sri Lanka. This study was an analytical research. In this study, the poem “Gajaga wannama” and the drama “Rasanayagam’s Last Riot” were analyzed to identify how the post-colonial Sri Lankan English literature describes nugatory ethnical violence against minorities in Sri Lanka. According to the review and analysis of the literary works such as the poem “Gajaga wannama” and the drama “Rasanayagam’s Last Riot”, several anti-minorities conflicts and riots have been recorded in the Sri Lankan history since 1948. Especially, the 1983 July riot was the massive anti-Tamil violence which was led by the fundamental thugs and mobs with the support of the United National Party government. Based on the analysis of the selected poem and drama, it is obvious that Tamil People lived Colombo, the Capital City of Sri Lanka were brutally killed and their assets and belongings were destroyed over a night following a bomb blast carried out by the Liberation of Tiger Tamil Ealam (LTTE) in the Northern part of Sri Lanka. This riot is primarily concerned with the nugatory anti-minority’s violence in Sri Lanka.

‘We Must Analyse Where Our National Interest Lies and not Worry too Much about Other People’s Domestic Policies’: Richard M. Nixon and Apartheid South Africa in the Early 1970s

ABSTRACT This article explores the pragmatic stance that the United States adopted, during the Nixon era, regarding relations with Pretoria. The Nixon administration believed that Washington needed to prioritise the protection of its own strategic and commercial interests and not become overly concerned about the domestic agenda of its global partners. The vehement anti-communism of the National Party government combined with a profitable economic relationship and the abundant mineral resources of the apartheid state dictated a need on practical grounds for closer ties with South Africa. This stance was further reinforced by Nixon’s contempt for sub-Saharan Africans and lack of interest in achieving racial justice.

A More Welcoming Climate: How Basic Income found better Traction in Holyrood than in Westminster

Basic income has moved tentatively on to the UK agenda since 2015, but it has struggled to find a foothold in Westminster, where the dominant view of poverty is as the result of failure in the labour market, and the response remains coercive welfare conditionality. In Scotland, government-funded research into the feasibility of basic income pilots has drawn on health and well-being priorities and civic and local authority involvement, while making an explicit connection between poverty, agency, health and wealth. This article draws on literature and semi-expert interviews to argue that the nature of Scottish political institutions and culture, allied to a Nationalist party government keen to differentiate itself from Westminster, with independence as short-term or long-term goal, has created an unusual policy space that provides the conditions for basic income as a pivoting reform. While implementation of a Basic Income may be impossible without full independence, Scotland is creating an ideational climate where – unlike south of the border – it at least looks feasible.

“Islamic terrorism” in New Zealand? The John Key Government, Counterterrorism, and the “Islamic terrorism” Narrative

ABSTRACT The presence of the “Islamic terrorism” narrative in New Zealand (NZ) counterterrorism, including its impact on NZ’s response to terrorism, has not been accorded the concern it merits. In the aftermath of the Christchurch Mosque attacks on 15 March 2019, the NZ government, the Royal Commission of Inquiry, and the media unreservedly agreed that NZ’s counterterrorism approach was misguided and erroneous. Central to this erroneous approach was the narrative of “Islamic terrorism” – the subject of this study – which sought to focus NZ’s counterterrorism efforts almost exclusively upon Islamic groups and individuals. The research employs a methodology of discourse analysis to examine how John Key’s National Party government drew on the “Islamic terrorism” narrative in its counterterrorism discourse. It then illustrates how this discourse manifested in NZ’s response to terrorism, both domestically and internationally, including in the introduction of new legislation. The primary purpose of this article is to demonstrate, and subsequently critique, the “Islamic terrorism” narrative as adopted in the Key government’s counterterrorism discourse and response. A major finding of the research is the Key government’s conflation, and at times virtual equalisation, of terrorism with “Islamic terrorism”. The concept of emancipation is proposed as an alternative to NZ’s erroneous counterterrorism approach.

“Do You Call Yourself a White Man?”

Abstract This essay is about the policing of white male heterosexuality in order to protect whites’ mythical racial purity in South Africa during the apartheid era (1948–94). Contrary to colonial authorities’ practice of turning a blind eye to settler men’s extramarital sexual exploits with colonized women, the apartheid regime attacked white heterosexual men’s patriarchal sexual liberties. In 1950, the National Party government passed the Immorality Amendment Act criminalizing extramarital sex between whites and people of color. Though technically gender neutral, the law was crafted by leaders of the authoritarian and puritanical Afrikaner nationalist movement to stop white heterosexual men from crossing the color line for illicit sex. Tens of thousands of people were arrested for contravening the law, and while its enforcement inflicted tremendous harm and hardship on women of color, it was white men, often Afrikaner themselves, who made up the single largest category of individuals prosecuted and convicted. This essay examines the origins of the law, state methods of enforcement, and some of the harmful gendered social consequences of its brutal application.

Into the void: the collapse of Irish party democracy

ABSTRACT For most of the twentieth century the Irish party system was stable and unchanging, centred on Fianna Fáil, Europe’s most electorally successful political party. That system suddenly collapsed in 2011 when Irish electoral politics became unusually volatile, ending decades of one-party dominance and leaving democratic elections unable to provide for government choice and accountability. This paper traces this transformation of the party system, unmasking the altered dynamics of the country’s electoral competition, through a focus on its long-dominant natural party of government. It concludes by considering the challenges and prospects for Ireland’s party democracy.

Equality through Education: A Review of Michael Manley's Vision for Jamaica

Michael Manley envisioned a Jamaica that would provide equality for the working-class through education. This was done consider- ing the socio-economic structure of the country which reflects its legacies of colo- nialism, slavery, and imperialism. Indica- tions of this trauma are evident in racial divisions based largely in colourism and class inequalities, which have led to the stigmatization of manual labour. During what historians Chambers and Airey label the ‘Socialist Era’ in Jamaica (i.e. 1972 and 1980), Manley’s People’s National Party (PNP) government sought to embed ideals of self-reliance into vital socio-economic industries such as education, agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism. The ultimate goal of this was aimed at reversing the condition of psychological dependency that plagued many regions in the Global South. This policy review seeks consider the process by which Michael Manley imple- mented his administration’s Free Education policy during the years of 1972 to 1980.

A thesis embargoed: Personnel research and ideology in South Africa after World War II

Ten years after the conclusion of World War II, the Department of Native Affairs of the National Party government of South Africa sponsored research into the selection of African civil servants. The study was conducted by Rae Sherwood, under the auspices of the National Social Research Council, and the National Institute for Personnel Research. In 1960, Sherwood submitted the work to the University of the Witwatersrand to obtain a PhD degree. Two government departments objected to the award of the degree. In this paper, I recount the history of the research, explaining that the acceleration of the apartheid project between 1948 and 1961 played a significant role in the controversy that developed. The paper furthermore illustrates the difficulties faced by social scientific research under repressive political conditions, and the need for a more nuanced view of the psychological research of the National Institute for Personnel Research in South Africa at the time.Significance: The history of South Africa’s research organisations has been of interest for a long time. This study recalls the history of an unknown chapter in the history of the National Institute for Personnel Research, based on a PhD submission kept under embargo in the archives of the University of the Witwatersrand. The study was methodologically sophisticated, rich in data, but controversial in its findings, at least as it reflected on the policies pursued by the apartheid government after World War II. It adds another contextual element to the type of work conducted by the Institute.

From convergence to congruence: European integration and citizen–elite congruence

Recent research argues that European integration has led to an ideological convergence of member state party systems, which is purported to have significant consequences for democratic representation. We argue that convergence of party positions is less problematic if congruence between governed and governing is maintained. We therefore turn to test whether integration has had an effect on congruence between the public and their governing elites. Using five measures of integration, two sources of public opinion data, and expert surveys on political parties, we find little evidence that integration into the European Union reduces congruence between the public and the national party system, government or legislature either ideologically or across five issue areas. These results should assuage concerns about integration’s effect on domestic political representation.

The Jester in Verwoerd’s Court: English Press Cartoons, 1959–1965

ABSTRACT The political cartoon has proven to be an effective means not only to mock but also to criticise the government of the day and to expose its abuse of power. The visual nature of cartoons, combined with humour, enables cartoon artists to bring across their message in a succinct manner. Cartoonists also employ references to events that their readership can relate to, making cartoons a mode of communication whose impact should not be underestimated. This article considers how cartoons that appeared in English-language South African newspapers viewed the Verwoerd government’s policies, specifically the implementation of those regarding the Bantustans or homelands. The article focuses on how cartoon artists used two phenomena of the time, the Space Race and the Beatles, to convey their criticism of the National Party government. The article also considers the effectiveness of the cartoons artists – like jesters in the royal court, masking their moral judgement behind witty remarks – to unmask the true intentions of the government’s homeland policy.

Data Must Fall the Politics of Mobile Telecommunications Tariffs in South Africa

For three decades the government of South Africa has sought to make telecommunications universally available and affordable. In its last days, the National Party (NP) government persuaded with the African National Congress (ANC) there should be licences for two international groups to build competing GSM mobile networks, under an independent regulator, implicitly adopting a regulatory state model. The fall of the USSR and commitments to globalisation left no alternative. Vodacom and MTN launched post-paid services in 1994 and in 1996 greatly widened the market with pre-paid services. The government licensed a third operator in 2000, but not a fourth, until it permitted state-owned Telkom to use its existing licence in 2010, after it had sold out of Vodacom. Neither had much effect on the market, because of weak regulation of the two entrenched mobile operators. The high charges and limited availability of fixed networks meant most citizens relied on mobile communications, though cost excluded some intermittently and many permanently. Despite growing use of mobile broadband, complaints about the high prices became demands that #DataMustFall, echoing other Fallism campaigns. The government pressed operators to cut mobile data prices and two ministers separately directed the Competition Commission and the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) to investigate and act. After three years the former identified discrimination against the poor and forced concessions from the operators. Following over a decade of delays by a string of ministers, ICASA prepared to auction spectrum in 2020, that would reduce operator costs and improve rural coverage, though most was designated for a novel and risky wholesale operator. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, spectrum was assigned temporarily to existing operators. Several years after recognition of the complaint, only the Competition Commission had delivered.

UNFULFILLED POTENTIAL: CONFINED DESTINY OF HISTORICAL STUDIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF FORT HARE, 1960 -2015

Recently, there are growing countrywide dialogues within several universities, and certainly at the University of Fort Hare about curricula review and realignment of academic departments. History is central to such discussions, and in this institution, it is not simply as a scholarly discipline, linked to teaching and research. Indeed, the identity of Fort Hare, as the first African institution of higher learning in the sub-Sahara makes its legacy even gripping. Almost every epoch of the evolution of Fort Hare had generational imprint: from the first half of the twentieth century whereby it surpassed its mission origin, to an institution with several individuals entwined to continental developments, and national political movements in the later decades. When it became a conventional case of National Party (NP) government control and influence, albeit with resistance from 1960, it forged another character, reflected by Afrikaner domination of academia and the rerouting thereof, for social and political control, whilst being aligned to apartheid policy. The remodelling of the institution in the era of democratic South Africa, germinated other facets, on various fronts as the institution had to reposition itself to new realities that continue to test centres of higher education, whilst still demanding clearer academic vision. That inclusive history of Fort Hare remains significant, but, an equally essential one for this paper is how this institution grasped its rich bequest, and endeavour to constitute its history department? Relying on empirical records from 1960 to 2015, this paper outlines distinct fortunes of Fort Hare’s history department. Whilst the paper also stresses the significance of this discipline, particularly within fields of social sciences and humanities, it also cautions how overriding plans can also be dire for the subject.

The Perpetuation of Gender Norms and White Hegemonic Patriarchy in the South African Defence Force as Represented in André van der Merwe’s Moffie (2006)

With the institution of compulsory military service in South Africa in 1948 the National Party government effected a tool well shaped for the construction of hegemonic masculinities. Through this, and other structures like schools and families, white children were shaped into submissive abiding citizens. Due to the brutal nature of a militarised society, gender roles become strictly defined and perpetuated. As such, white men’s time served on the border also “toughened” them up and shaped them into hegemonic copies of each other, ready to enforce patriarchal and racist ideologies. In this article, I look at how the novel Moffie by André Carl van der Merwe (2006) illustrates hegemonic white masculinity in South Africa and how it has long been strictly regulated to perpetuate the well-being of the white family as representative of the capitalist state. I discuss the novel by looking at the ways in which the narrator is marked by service in the military, which functions as a socialising agent, but as importantly by the looming threat of the application of the term “moffie” to himself, by self or others.

More Than IndyRef2? The Referendums (Scotland) Act 2020

AbstractDemands for a second Scottish independence referendum have persisted since 2014. The Scottish government introduced the Referendums (Scotland) Bill at Holyrood in May 2019 to enable referendums within the competence of the Scottish parliament. The Scottish National Party (SNP) government presented this as a framework enabling a range of referendums. Opponents saw this as legislating for a second independence referendum. The act will form a large part of the legal framework and rules for any second independence referendum. Importantly, the legislation provides innovation in electoral law more generally. This article discusses the background to the bill, its initial contents, and debates around and amendments to the bill. It discusses its electoral law innovations, before considering its limitations and place as constitutional debates play out over a second independence referendum.

Beyond Foot-Dragging: A Reflection on the Reluctance of South Africa’s National Prosecution Authority to Prosecute Apartheid Crimes in Post-Transitional Justice

To this day, apartheid is still regarded as one of the most heinous crimes to have affected humankind. The brutality of the apartheid system and its impact not only left devastating effects in the minds of the black majority who were affected by the system, but also drew international attention. This prompted the United Nations Security Council to pass drastic resolutions to try and end the apartheid system. It is important to highlight that apartheid crime was committed at the behest of the-then National Party government at the expense of the black majority. The attainment of democratic rule in 1994 also saw the emergence of the need for transitional justice. However, after 25 years of foot-dragging, the National Prosecution Authority in South Africa has still not been fully committed to prosecute apartheid atrocities. This article examines the crime of apartheid and the impact of the transitional justice process in South Africa. The article further reflects on the National Prosecution Authority’s reluctance to prosecute crimes of apartheid and examines the final report of the People’s Tribunal on Economic Crimes in South Africa.

The 2019 Australian election

Opinion polls suggested that Australia’s Coalition (Liberal and National Party) government was likely to be replaced by a Labor government at the 2019 election. However, in fact the government was returned. Key issues in the 2019 election centred around managing the economy, including levels of taxation and issues of inequality; around spending on government services such as health and education; and around issues of climate change. There were elements of populism in both major parties’ campaigns, and two minor populist parties played a significant role in preference distribution. There were also some simmering issues that reflect the broader geopolitical and geo-economic changes that are impacting upon Australia. These include not only challenges for Australia’s economy and identity in the ‘Asian Century’, but also issues of Australia’s relationship with China.

‘There was no real information about China in South Africa’: revisiting the history of the establishment of diplomatic relations between South Africa and China (1950s–1990s)

ABSTRACTThe establishment of diplomatic relations between South Africa and China is an under-researched topic. Even less examined is the role of party-to-party relations between the African National Congress (ANC) and the Communist Party of China (CPC) in the process of building relations between these two states, as well as that of the early contact between South Africa’s National Party (NP) government and China. This research finds that the expectations of Pretoria and Beijing were largely incompatible in the early 1990s while no fundamental disagreement existed between South Africa and Taiwan at the time. The ‘Mandela factor’ and the general lack of knowledge about China in South Africa, furthermore, contributed to the prolonged process of building formal relations. In addition, the article also argues that the legacies of the early inter-party relations between the ANC and CPC, which played a role in South Africa’s decision-making and opinion formation in the early 1990s, cannot be ignored, and helps to explain the delay in the establishment of diplomatic relations to 1998.

Fragment of an Oral History of Opposition to the 1986 Paramilitary Overthrow of Chief Leabua Jonathan's Government

In January 1986, the Lesotho Paramilitary Force (LPF) overthrew the Basotho National Party (BNP) government of Chief Leabua Jonathan. In the aftermath of the coup d’état, Major General Justin Metsing Lekhanya led a military government with a civilian cabinet made up of individuals, some of whom, like Major General Lekhanya himself, were members of the BNP. The coup followed years of (a) general fear in the country as a result of acts of political violence and brutality perpetrated by the BNP Youth League against individuals and groups considered as anti - BNP government; and (b) the BNP government’s vociferous support of the struggle against apartheid in regional and international forums. Against that background, the overthrow of Chief Jonathan’s government was welcomed on the one hand by the people of Lesotho — happy to be rid of the BNP Youth League terror — and on the other hand by the South African government — happy to be rid of a fierce critic, Chief Jonathan, whose small country greatly depended on the South African economy. Indeed, the South African government was known to have encouraged the overthrow of Chief Jonathan’s government. This article presents oral testimonies about the events around, and opposition to, the coup. In this way, it seeks to draw attention to the experiences of those who could be said to have failed, as opposed to the stories of the victors, which tended to dominate writings on the 1986 coup.

The awkward biography of the young Washington Okumu: CIA asset (?) and the Prayer Breakfast’s man in Africa

ABSTRACTWashington Okumu (1936–2016) is now largely forgotten, but he had had a burst of fame as the mediator that brought the Inkatha Freedom Party back into South Africa’s democratic elections of 1994. This article concerns his professional life until 1988. In addition to reconstructing his life, it comments on the awkward challenges of this biography. Interviews with Okumu yielded confusing and often untruthful testimony. The research process involved extensive corroboration and correction. Okumu’s story was about his great achievements, but his greatest achievement was to position himself on the edges of power. All the same, he had a remarkable life that included relationships with Kenyan political leaders, study at Harvard and Cambridge universities, a likely relationship with the CIA, political imprisonment, and employment by the United Nations. His deepest connection was with the Fellowship (an international Christian network best known for hosting the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC). Most remarkably, it arranged for Okumu to conduct secret shuttle diplomacy between South African Prime Minister BJ Vorster and Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere in 1976. His life through early middle-age was well connected and eventful, but his initiatives do not appear to have been politically consequential. Indeed, the most significant event of life before 1988 may have been that he met IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi at the Prayer Breakfast in Washington and that he gained the trust of the South African National Party government and thus was positioned for his ‘great moment’ in 1994.

Surviving on the Brink: New Zealand Workers, Unions and Employment Relations, 1991–2008

New Zealand's Fourth Labour Government (1984-90) implemented a remarkably rapid process of economic privatisation, decentralisation and deregulation. However, it was only under the National Party Government (1990-99) that this process was extended comprehensively to employment relations, with its Employment Contracts Act 1991 (ECA). The ECA had devastating impacts on union membership, collective bargaining and employment conditions. The election of a Labour-led government in 1999, followed by its Employment Relations Act 2000 (ERA), promised a less hostile climate for workers and unions. This paper examines employment relations in New Zealand under these two legislative regimes, from 1991 to 2008. First, it evaluates how the ECA's largely decentralised, deregulated environment transformed employment relations and how workers, unions and employers responded to it. Second, it assesses how the ERA contributed to a cultural change that encouraged workers, unions and employers to develop more strategic approaches to employment relations. It illustrates how this change, coupled with the introduction of important statutory entitlements for all workers, helped to prevent any resurgence of the right-wing politics that fuelled the ECA.