The book examines the reform of the communication sector in South Africa as a detailed and extended case study in political transformation - the transition from apartheid to democracy. The reform of broadcasting, telecommunications, the state information agency, and the print press from apartheid-aligned apparatuses to accountable democratic institutions took place via a complex political process in which civil society activism, embodying a post-social democratic ideal, largely won out over the powerful forces of formal market capitalism and older models of state control. In the cautious acceptance of the market, the civil society organizations sought to use the dynamism of the market while thwarting its inevitable inequities. Forged in the crucible of a difficult transition to democracy, communication reform in South Africa was navigated between the National Party's new embrace of the market and the African National Congress leadership's default statist orientation.

Author: Horwitz, Robert B.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Illustration: N
Language: ENG
Title: Communication and Democratic Reform in South Africa
Pages: 00000 (Encrypted PDF)
On Sale: 1997-06-20
SKU-13/ISBN: 9780521791663
Category: Technology & Engineering : Social Aspects
Category: Political Science : Government - Comparative
Category: Political Science : Political Ideologies - Democracy