CPL Seminar: 'The influence of the South African Constitution on the internal operations of political parties: From private associations to duty-bound constitutional actors'

Speaker: Michael Dafel, Doctoral Candidate, University of Cambridge
Location: Moot Court Room

In South Africa, as is the case in the rest of the common law world, political parties have traditionally been categorised as private associations that ought to free from external regulation. A consequence of this self-regulatory approach was that political elites often assumed for themselves an almost unfettered power to control the extent to which ordinary members participated in policy and leadership debates. Many of these associations were therefore characterised as more autocratic than democratic, and it was not uncommon for dissident members to be expelled. The enactment of the South African Constitution has however carved away at this approach, though it is not clear at this stage to what extent. One of the reasons for the uncertainty is that a tension seems to exist between the legislature and judiciary over the role of a political party in a constitutional democracy. In this paper I will contrast their different approaches, and discuss how these two institutions have interpreted constitutional rights to impose obligations on political parties so as to safeguard the right of ordinary members to participate effectively in a political party.

Faculty Members and Visitors, PhD students and LLM Public Law students are welcome.

For more information contact Mark Elliott (mce1000@cam.ac.uk)