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Intergovernmental relations in South Africa: the challenges of co‐operative government
Author(s) -
Tapscott Chris
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
public administration and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.574
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1099-162X
pISSN - 0271-2075
DOI - 10.1002/1099-162x(200005)20:2<119::aid-pad118>3.0.co;2-g
Subject(s) - unitary state , constitution , legislation , government (linguistics) , extant taxon , public administration , state (computer science) , economics , political science , public economics , central government , local government , law , algorithm , evolutionary biology , computer science , biology , philosophy , linguistics
The new South African constitution, with its emphasis on ‘co‐operative government’, sets out the structure of the state and delineates, in broad terms, the responsibilities of the different levels of the public sector. The constitution, however, merely spells out an enabling framework for the development of a system of inter‐governmental relations (IGR). The operationalisation of the policy of co‐operative government, consequently, is in formation and manifests the extant tensions between a unitary and a federal model of the state. The shortcomings in the existing system of IGR lead to poor co‐ordination within and between the different structures of government and limit its capacity to deliver multi‐sectoral social programmes. While the government is anxious to develop a regulatory framework for IGR, it is unlikely that legislation on its own will promote greater intergovernmental co‐operation and co‐ordination; administrative capacity and the evolution of accepted models of interaction are likely to be of equal or greater import. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.