Land,citizenship and the consolidation of constitutional democracy in Southern Africa

This review article discusses recent books on land reform and its implications for racial reconciliation and constitutional democracy in formerly white‐ruled states in Southern Africa. It is argued that President Mugabe's opportunistic use of the land issue in his power struggle with his domestic opposition—and propaganda warfare with his international critics—should not obscure the symbolic and material importance of Zimbabwe's highly unequal land ownership. Moreover, Mugabe's militant stance is having resonance in neighbouring South Africa and Namibia, where the racially skewed ownership of land—and other resources—could also become sites of struggle that, as in Zimbabwe, threaten not only economic growth, but also the construction of a broad (non‐racial) citizenship and the consolidation of constitutional democracy. Such a chain of events is also likely to have adverse consequences for western–African relations.     

Legitimacy and democracy in Fiji

Kenneth Bain. Treason at 10: Fiji at the Crossroads. Auckland: Hodder & Stoughton, 1989. xvi + 236 pp. $NZ34.95.

T.P. Bayliss‐Smith, Richard Bedford, Harold Brookfield and Marc Latham. Islands, Islanders and the World: the Colonial and Post‐colonial Experience of Eastern Fiji. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988. xvii + 323 pp. $102.00.

Eddie Dean and Stan Ritova. Rabuka: No Other Way. Moorebank: Doubleday, 1988. 174 pp. $12.95.

Brij V. Lal. Power and Prejudice: The Making of the Fiji Coup. Wellington: New Zealand Institute of International Affairs, 1988. viii + 204 pp. $NZ10.00.

Satendra Prasad (ed.) Coup and Crisis: Fiji — A Year Later. North Carlton: Arena Publications, 1988. 119 pp. $9.95.

Robert T. Robertson and Akosita Tamanisau. Fiji: Shattered Coups. Leichardt: Pluto Press, 1988. xviii + 198 pp. $11.95

Deryck Scarr. Fiji: The Politics of illusions: The Military Coups in Fiji. Kensington: New South Wales University Press, 1988. xvii + 161 pp. No price given.     

Garibaldi and parliamentary democracy

Abstract

The extraordinary nature of Garibaldi's life is reflected in his involvement in parliamentary activities across a number of countries (Uruguay, Kingdom of Sardinia, Roman Republic, Kingdom of Italy, French Republic). After the national unification, Parliament became a kind of great sounding board in Garibaldi's strategy thanks in part to the fact that in the Chamber he could count on a group of followers who were always ready to support any issue vaguely to do with memories of the Risorgimento or irredentist aspirations. His failure to steer the new state in the desired direction through the legislative process certainly influenced Garibaldi's negative opinion of parliamentary work. Garibaldi could not however recognize as an expression of popular sovereignty a parliament in whose election only 2 per cent of the population were allowed to participate. His main political battle was the fight for universal suffrage which was intended to enfranchise all Italians, thus turning subjects into citizens and finally making parliamentary institutions nationally representative and democratically legitimate.     

Religion and ideology in the constitutional revolution

Ideologi‐ye Nahzat‐e Mashrutiyyat‐e Iran. By F. Adamiyyat. Tehran: Payam, 1976/1355.

Shi^cism and Constitutionalism in Iran, A Study of the Role Played by the Persian Residents of Iraq in Iranian Politics. By A. H. Hairi. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1977.     

Women and Citizenship in Indonesia

Literature on citizenship canvasses three related issues: membership of a political community, the rights and obligations associated with that membership, and participation in the life of that polity. This paper investigates Indonesian women's experience of these aspects of citizenship in the twentieth century. As a plural society, Indonesia needs to accommodate gender differences within its notion of citizenship. Only women can ensure that this accommodation is worked through in an equitable manner.     

Constitutional democracy and civic nationalism

ABSTRACT. This article seeks to bring to the fore the intrinsic link between constitutional democracy and the civic nation, relying on Jürgen Habermas's theory of democracy. This theoretical framework will serve as the basis for a communicative understanding of civic nationalism, underscoring the notable role played by language. Attention will be given to the normative dimension that allows for the legitimisation of national divisions of a civic space bound by universal rights. The prime motivation behind this article is thus political‐philosophical, although empirical examples, drawn particularly from the French revolutionary discourse, will be brought to bear. And since a civic nation construed in communicative terms has necessary linguistic implications, cases of multilingual and multinational states will be examined.     

Athens: Citizenship and democracy

The Origins of Citizenship in Ancient Athens. By Philip Brook Manville (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990), xiv + 265 pp., $17.95/£14.95 paper.

Fathers and Sons in Athens: Ideology and Society in the Era of the Peloponnesian War. By Barry S. Strauss (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993), xv + 283 pp., $16.95/ £12.95 paper.     

Gender interests and Indonesian democracy

Using a distinction between practical and strategic gender interests, this paper examines the implications which democracy has for women in Indonesia. A comparison between the 1950s, when Indonesia experienced a period of liberal democracy, and the current New Order era, reveals that the different records of the two regimes in fulfilling women's gender interests can be explained both by the relative success of governments in promoting development and by the level of civil and political liberties tolerated by them. In the present political transition in Indonesia, the prospect of greater freedoms of expression and association offers hope to women seeking to pursue strategic gender interests and the practical gender interests of poorer women.