"Swiss" solutions to ethnic crises?

Thande

Donor
While reading Mrs Thatcher's autobiography recently (published 1993, so before the fall of apartheid) I was interested to see her opinion on the path South Africa should take towards reform:

President de Klerk was clearly frustrated that the further round of informal talks with the ANC on the constitution for which he had been pressing had still not occurred. The longer the process continued the more opportunity there was for hardliners - on either side - to derail the negotiations. The main principle to which he held was that there must be power sharing in the Executive. In the new South Africa no one must have as much power as he himself had now. In some respects he thought that the Swiss Federal Cabinet was a guide to what was needed. This seemed to me to be very much on the right lines - not that either hybrid constitutions or federal systems have much inherent appeal, but in states where allegiances are at least as much to subordinate groups as to the overarching institutions of the state itself these things may constitute the least bad approach. It remains to be seen whether the ANC leadership is prepared to recognise this. With all the risks of violence and all the shortcomings of the various political factions, South Africa remains the strongest economy on the continent and has the most skilled and educated population. It would be a tragedy if it cannot exploit these advantages to build a genuine democracy, which respects minority rights, on the foundation of a free economy.

Debatable whether this could have worked in South Africa, especially this late in the day. But I wonder if an appeal to Swiss-style federalism could be used to create institutional power-sharing in other situations where ethnic or religious/sectarian identity has hampered state institutions. Other African states spring to mind, where the problem is not white-on-black but black-on-black (see Kenya recently for instance). The same is true of other multi-ethnic states throughout the world. Opinions?
 
That's an interesting suggestion, though I'm not certain it would work in multiethnic states where there's a lot of hostility towards the other ethnicities - i.e., most of them.
 
I dont exactly know what you mean exactly by 'Swiss' solution, but didnt they try it in Bosnia/Srpska?
 

abc123

Banned
While reading Mrs Thatcher's autobiography recently (published 1993, so before the fall of apartheid) I was interested to see her opinion on the path South Africa should take towards reform:



Debatable whether this could have worked in South Africa, especially this late in the day. But I wonder if an appeal to Swiss-style federalism could be used to create institutional power-sharing in other situations where ethnic or religious/sectarian identity has hampered state institutions. Other African states spring to mind, where the problem is not white-on-black but black-on-black (see Kenya recently for instance). The same is true of other multi-ethnic states throughout the world. Opinions?

IMO the best solution for RSA would be if they had National Assembly ( proportional representation, universal suffrage ) and Senate ( 100 Senators, 25 from any major racial group ). Bouth houses would have to be equal.
Government with PM and 2 Deputy PM ( from three other races ) and no single race with >50% of ministers in cabinet and no single race with less than 15% of ministers.
Rotation on PM position. So 4 years PM from single race, another 4 years from another race...
Like in Australia, vote of confidence in both houses. Majority of senators from all 4 races nescesarry.
President elected by Senate, but with rotation of races...
Etc.

Similar system for provinces.

IMO that would be smartest solution.

If such system was applied in 1948 there would not be apartheid, and all races could be satisfied.
 
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