Foreign observers in South African elections : an assessment of their contributions

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:Over the past three decades the practice of international election observation hasshifted its focus from elections taking place within a decolonialisation context, tothose in independent, but formerly undemocratic, states. The latter accepted thepresence of international observers with some reservation, citing the contentionthat observation amounted to an infringement on national sovereignty. Thedemise of the former East Block, however, established the primacy of the liberaldemocratic ideology in world politics, leaving these states with a limited choicebetween democratisation and isolation.Pro-democracy supporters in former authoritarian countries embraced thechange in ideological climate. Realising the lack of capacity and trust to runelections by themselves, they generally supported the presence of internationalobservers in elections of states emerging from prolonged periods ofauthoritarianism. Over the past decade this affinity with international missionshas been transformed into skepticism. Three primary reasons for thisdisenchantment have been the apparent lack of electoral standards,uncoordinated observer missions and failure to convince voters of theirimpartiality.This assignment represents a scholarly attempt to evaluate the contributions ofinternational election observers to South African elections. On a theoretical levelit addresses the three criticisms against foreign observation. Drawing on the vastbody of international literature, the author suggests three countermeasures.These suggestions, aimed at enhancing the contributions of internationalobserver consist of: 1) a greater consideration for the political context withinwhich an election takes place; 2) the pooling of international observer capacityand 3) more scope to, and cooperation with, local observer groups. Each ofthese measures is transferred to the South African electoral reality to establishthe extent of their application in this practical context. With regard to the first proposal the author finds that clear consideration hasbeen given to contextual factors in both elections. An assessment of the qualityof coordination of international observer groups also indicates that the practice ofpooling resources have been employed with success by a number of missions. Inthis field the U.N. played a leading role. Cooperation between internationalobservers and their local counterparts is however an aspect that has beenlagging behind. The opportunity for capacity building, a significant benefit ofsuch cooperation, has therefore to a large extent been lost. In the light of this,and the uncertainty of future international involvement, the author asserts that infuture South Africans will increasingly be dependent on the cultivation ofhomegrown capacity. He therefore believes that initiatives such as the creation ofthe SADC Electoral Forum in 1998 are commendable and should beencouraged.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University