About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

2 Law Democracy & Dev. iii (1998)

handle is hein.journals/laacydev2 and id is 1 raw text is: Editorial Law Democracy & Development (LDD) is privileged to publish in this issue a selection of papers emanating from a study of co-determinist structures at different levels of South African society, commissioned in mid-1 996 by the National Labour and Economic Development Institute (NALEDI), a re- search institute associated with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). Dr Glenn Adler, co-ordinator of that project, has kindly agreed to assist in the production of this issue in the capacity of guest editor, Co-determination goes to the root of the democracy-building project as well as the developmental challenges facing South Africa. The term is used here to describe a participative mode of decision-making involving all parties (often with adversarial interests) to a process, rather than an exercise of power by those at the top of organisational hierarchies. Neces- sarily, it implies the empowerment, in terms of knowledge and skill, of those who had previously been excluded from decision-making. Its devel- opmental significance lies in broadening the pool of human resources, and reinforcing the co-operative effort, that socio-economic progress ulti- mately depends on. Why is co-determination on the agenda? To the extent that it forms part of the democratic transformation that South Africa has embarked on, it needs no special explanation. But there are other, very empirical influ- ences promoting it also, In much of the private sector, enterprises are under growing pressure to become more flexible in their output. Global markets challenge them to meet a more diverse, rapidly-changing de- mand. Combined with these pressures has been the general imperative to improve productivity by means of improved industrial relations. A grow- ing tendency towards new, more inclusive forms of management has been part of the response. These influences are by no means confined to the private sector. Similar pressures towards democratised decision-making have begun to make themselves felt in the public sector. Most notably, the new South African constitution is a monument to the potency of an integrative process to achieve results that no single party could have imposed by force or per- suasion. It provides a foundation for democratisation at all levels of soci- ety. as explored in the previous issue of LDD (Volume 1 November 1997). Throughout the new public service, the understanding is growing that participative decision-making works better, Trite though much of this may be, the focus of our law has only begun to shift from the regulation of social power by means of traditional hierar- chies to providing new, integrative mechanisms of decision-making more in keeping with democratic values. This issue is about the emergence of co-determinist decision-making in a number of key areas. Special atten- tion is given to participatory institutions between employers, organised

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most