Comparative analysis of Russia and South Africa: Public Administration

Charmaine Helena Iwu Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, University of the Western Cape South Africa charmaine.iwu@gmail.com

Table of Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................ 2

The historical backgrounds of South Africa and Russia ................................ 2

South Africa......................................................................................................................................... 2 Russia .................................................................................................................................................. 3

The political culture of South Africa and Russia ............................................. 4

South Africa......................................................................................................................................... 4 Russia .................................................................................................................................................. 5

The executives and other structures of South Africa and Russia .................. 6
South Africa......................................................................................................................................... 6 Russia .................................................................................................................................................. 7

Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 8

Introduction Not much scholarly attention has been paid to Russias membership of the BRICS. Interestingly, Russia as a sovereign state has been reported extensively in terms of its superiority among the former republic (i.e. USSR). In so many ways however, Russia seems to share a common semblance to South Africa in terms of its birth as a democracy. Both countries transition to democracy was a year apart, Russia in 1993, while South Africas was in 1994. The new South Africa was a colony of Britain; which later transformed into an apartheid state. Russia, on the other hand, did not experience this but rather waged war on certain parts of European states. It would seem that even though they are both democracies, South Africans enjoy more liberties than Russians do since their attitudes are still of that of the past. Russias history is quite different to that of South Africa in that Russia, formerly known as United Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR), had diverse leadership who governed. This essay looks at these differences and will do comparative analysis between Russia and South Africa and the focus points are; the historical backgrounds, the political cultures and conclude with the executives and other structures. The historical backgrounds of South Africa and Russia South Africa It is a well-known circumstance according to South African history that the Dutch arrived in the Cape in the 1600s and later in the 1800s when the British arrived in South Africa, taking control of its citizens who suffered colonisation since up until South Africas independence. The South African History Organisation (SAHO) gives evidence to this by claiming that the Cape was colonised by the Dutch under the Batavian administration, displacing and enslaving the people who were the inhabitants (n.d). According to the SAHO this enslavement of the indigenous people continued under the leadership of various governors even after South Africa gained independence in 1910. In 1948, Apartheid is introduced in South Africa where the dominant party, the National party (NP), presented certain laws which were established to legally segregate different racial groups. South Africas all-white National Party, which governed the country unceasingly from 1948 up until 1994, appeared to have invented the word to mask or guise the various unjust features of its policies and practices (Lwstedt, 2006, p. 15). This shows that the term apartheid was a ploy to consciously omit all other South African racial groups from participating in the spoils of the country and this became evident in their policies and
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practices. The government established many laws and Acts according to Thompson (p. 190) such as The Population Registration Act (1950), Reservation of Separate Amenities Act (1953), etcetera. Several other Acts were established which ultimately separated the Blacks from the whites economically, politically and socially. According Thompson (1990, p. 187) South Africa became a Republic in 1961 and severed their ties with Great Britain. Thompson further adds that the government meanwhile Afrikanerized every state institution, appointing Afrikaner to senior as well as junior position in civil service, army, police and state corporations. This indicates that the administration of the Apartheid regime only employed Afrikaners in state and later in medical and legal professions. It seemed as though they were only recruiting Whites into these positions while the Blacks were kept as labourers. Economically it appeared that the Whites were flourishing as the supreme race whereas the other racial groups suffered poverty, especially the Blacks. It gave the impression that the social culture was that White supremacy reigned in every aspect as the governing race and were not equal to any other racial group. The Apartheid government ruled for over four decades making sure the provinces the Black people ruled were not as recognised as their white counterparts, however, it all ended in 1994 with South Africas first democratic election or so we were led to believe. Russia In contrast, Russias history is quite exciting and filled with escapades. The author, Pares (2011, p. 2) claims that Russian history began outside Russia, in Kiev. Its looks as if the Russians who were known as Slavs in the past were spread over Eastern Europe before settling down where they are today. According to the Russian chronology by Freidin (n.d) there was the Kievan Russia from 988 to 1240 and he made the claim that they converted to Christianity in Kiev. He also mentions that they were later called Muscovite Russia from 1380 to 1682 where there was a battle with different leaderships such as Ivan lll, Ivan the terrible and so forth. Then Freidin added that from 1692 to 1917 they were called Imperial Russia where people like Peter l, Catherine the great, the Alexanders and the Nicholas were in power among many others. Various events took place between these periods which includes the declaration of St Petersburg as the capital of Russia in 1712 (Freidin, n.d). he further claimed that there were numerous wars and reforms, such as, the financial reform in 1862/3, the judicial reform in 1864/6 and the municipal reforms in 1870. So it seemed that public policies were actively
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in force in those periods. The first Duma to be established was in 1906, the second in 190712, the third in 1912-17 and the forth in 1917 until the revolution in 1917 (Freidin, n.d). This according to Freidin is the era of the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1991 where numerous violent conflicts, protests, riots and war took place. So many activities in and within government took place like enforcing certain laws, such as, the First Soviet Russian Constitution in 1918 (Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic). Freidin made mention of leaderships, such as, Lenin, Patriarchs and Stalin in power as well the 1st USSR Constitution being established in 1922 and adopted in 1924. Stalin ruled with an iron fist and introduced many laws as a communist to their benefit. A few other well-known leaders such as Boris Yeltsin ruled Russia from 1992 to 1999 and abolished the Soviet. Vladimir Putin came into power and intended at strengthening the federal government (Freidin, n.d). Russia became a democracy in 1993.

The political culture of South Africa and Russia South Africa Political culture is a crucial segment of national culture. According to van Zyl Slabbert (2006, p. 41) political culture refers to the norms, values, standards and practices that have to do with the competition for abuse and use of power. What type of political culture exists in South Africa? Since South Africas inception to democracy in 1994, the political cultures have evolved from extreme inequities in practice towards people of colour to liberty, equality for all and the right to access of resources. There seems to be a shift in the ideology of political cultures from the past and present South Africa in that many people especially the majority of Blacks had the attitude of expectation. People expected government to give houses and good quality education and so forth. Callinicos (1996) give evidence by claiming that having won the vote, they expected from an ANC dominated government jobs, houses, and schools as well. But - say the commentators - these expectations are 'unrealistic'. It is comprehensible that people who suffered oppression would have high expectation however the elites do as well. There is competition for material conditions, such as, housing. The culture of expectation is centred mainly amongst the poor and this is an indication that the peoples attitude did not really change since Apartheid. South Africa has a diverse nation with various cultures and traditions as well as eleven official languages and government has to take this into consideration prior to policy
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implementation. If service is not delivered, it causes discomfort and unhappiness amongst the people which leads to certain outbreaks, such as protests and riots. This is the current culture in South Africa towards the government in that they will display their anger towards lack of service delivery through violence to get a reaction. An example of this is the sanitary saga in the Western Cape where the people went to dump faeces at the Cape Town International Airport because they want proper sanitary systems. In the South African Bill of Rights, citizens have a right to take action against the state if they believe their constitutional rights have been infringed upon. Since service delivery is a right and not a privilege, people will take drastic steps to get the reaction they want from government. Russia Russia is a democracy as well as South Africa and is currently ruled by Vladimir Putin. According to Rukavishnikov (2007, p. 2) Russia went through two socio-political revolutions (the Bolshevik revolution in 1917 and the anti-communist upheaval in 1991), two cold wars and the cold war with the West and it is claimed by him that even though states go through radical changes, the culture remains the same. He also claims that Russia had for more than 700 years been ruled by a Tsar or a communist dictator. This means that for many centuries, the Russian people have been conditioned and indoctrinated to believe in certain beliefs and norms for an extended period of time, to presume they would change just because of democracy. How is it possible to detach people from the past to present conditions and adjust? Russia seems to have a rigid political system even though they are a democracy, which could not possibly allow people to adapt the way they should. Although there culture under the communist ruler Stalin was severely autocratic, it would be quite an undertaking to transform a country from a dictatorial state to a democracy. It is not an easy task to change the attitudes of people, as people resist change since they are sceptical of the unknown. According to (n. a) under Stalin, the government used means of mass communication to shape peoples thinking toward absolute faith in the Communist Party, including controlling all newspapers, radio stations, and movie studios, destroying churches and synagogues and killing or imprisoning religious leaders, controlling all education, including curriculum, textbooks, and teaching and censoring many writers, painters, and composers, and forced others to create propagandabiased or false information used to influence people. This indicates that Stalin had monopoly of power over its citizen which appears to be an all-encompassing ideology in every aspect of their lives and because of this

it is possible that people could permit government to decide what their social behaviour should be, even today. The Russian government is aware they have popular support from its people and so whatever the government decides as the lawmakers, are accepted by its people. Rukavishnikov feels that the Russian government constantly hold considerable political power over economic life and furthermore frequently uses this control to follow predatory policies toward business. The political transition in Russia has not gone far and this slowness of political change retards economic growth. The executives and other structures of South Africa and Russia South Africa Any country should have an executive to lead its nation. There are specific functions an executive performs in relation to the powers vested in him or her to make rules and laws to the benefit of its people and state. South Africa is a bicameral state of South Africas National government has divisions of power between Legislature, Executive and Judicial authorities. The Legislature comprises the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces. The Executive comprises the President, Cabinet and Government Department. The Judiciary, the Court System comprises the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court and High Court. The national executive is the President as Head of State and is not a Member of Parliament however he may be called to Parliament and be accountable for his executive decisions and actions. The President as the executive has the authority along with other members of Cabinets which forms the national executive. Parliament is the national sphere of government in Legislature and consists of two houses, National Assembly and National Council of Provinces. According to Groenwald (2003, p. 16), the National Assembly could be considered the most active component of Parliament. Most of the legislation is introduced in the National Assembly and the most extensive debates take place in this house of Parliament, as members strive to promote the issues their political parties fell strongly about. So this indicates that laws of the state are discussed and made in Parliament and that various other concerns are tabled. The National Council of Provinces according to Section 42 (4) of the Constitution represents the provinces to ensure that provincial interests are taken into account in the national sphere of government. The National Council of Provinces takes part in the legislative processes and
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provides a forum for civil society the consideration of problems the province is experiencing. The Judiciary is the authority which is entrusted in the courts of the Republic of South Africa and is independent and is subject to the Constitution and the law. The judicial system comprises the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court of Appeal, The High Courts and Magistrates Courts. The other structures that falls within the sphere of government are the Provincial and Local government. The Republic of South Africa comprises 34 ministries which falls within Foreign Relations, Economic Affairs, Treasury, Infrastructure, Social and Cultural, Education and Traditional Leaders. South Africa comprises nine provinces and local government comprises 284 municipalities and Groenewald (p. 18) mentions the municipalities are assembled into three categories; Category A; the six metropolitan councils, Category B; the municipality that shares municipal executive and legislative authority with Category C which consists of 231 and Category C; a municipality of 47 that has municipal executive and legislative authority in an area that includes more than one municipality. According to Groenwald (p. 16) a provincial legislature consists of members who represents political parties that took part in the elections and have been voted in through a system in the national ensures proportional representation. This shows that since the African National Council (ANC) party as the dominant has been voted in through an election process by the party members. The local government is an interdependent and interrelated component of the government system. It consists of municipalities which are headed by municipal councils. Local government is the component of government who is in physical contact with members of the communities so they get first-hand experience of the problems and concerns of the community. Local government are the departments that implement government policies to ensure all the required delivery of services to the public has been adhered to. Russia According to Aarrevaara (1999, p. 14) state power in the Russian Federation is realised on the basis of the separation of legislative, executive and judicial powers, which are autonomous. So this indicates that each division is independent. The Russian Federation has a centralized political system, with power determined in a President and a Prime minister and a two-tier legislature the Federal Assembly. The Federal Assembly comprises a lower house State Duma and an upper house Federation Council. According to the Constitution
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of the Russian Federation (1993) Article (77) The system of state power bodies of the republics, territories, regions, federal cities, the autonomous region, autonomous areas are established by the subjects of the Russian Federation independently in accordance with the basic principles of the constitutional system of the Russian Federation and general principles of the organization of legislative and executive bodies of power as envisaged by the federal law. The Constitution further mention that within the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and the powers of the Russian Federation on issues within the joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and the subjects of the Russian Federation the federal bodies of executive power and bodies of executive power of the subjects of the Russian Federation forms the single system of executive power in the Russian Federation. The Constitution of Russian Federation further states: The republic state has its own constitution and legislation. A territory, region, federal city, autonomous region and autonomous area have its own charter and legislation. The federated structure of the Russian Federation are based on its state integrity, the uniform system of state power, delimitation of scopes of authority and powers between the bodies of state power of the Russian Federation and the bodies of state power of the subjects of the Russian Federation, equality and self-determination of the peoples in the Russian Federation. All the subjects of the Russian Federation are equal among themselves in relations with the Federal bodies of state power. To apply their authorities, the federal groups of executive influence may establish their own territorial organisations and assign relevant bureaucrats. Through a contract with bodies of executive authority of the subordinates of the Russian Federation, the federal structures of executive control may give to them part of their powers on condition that this does not breach the Constitution or federal laws. The arrangement with the federal structures of executive authority, organs of executive influence of the subordinates of the Russian Federation may delegate part of their controls to them. The President of the Russian Federation and the government of the Russian Federation shall, under the Constitution, exercise the authority of federal state power throughout the territory of the Russian Federation. Conclusion This comparative analysis of public administration between Russia and South Africa was quite enlightening. These countries are both democracies at approximately the same time, yet
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Russias history is so diverse and rich with so many activities and events as well as experiencing diverse leadership. Russia lived through more than 700 years of being reigned by Tsars and communism while South Africa experienced Apartheid. Civil society of the Russian Federation had to endure dictatorship where policies and practices only afforded the elite. Although this is similar to what South Africa faced, it was different in terms of the participation of society. This was the study in this essay and the issues analysed were; the historical backgrounds, the political cultures, the executives and other structures and concluded with the public servants.

Reference list Aarrevaara, T. (1999). Restructuring Civil Service in Russian Public Administration. Ministry of Finance, Public Management Department. Helsinki. Callinicos, A. (1996). International Socialism. South Africa after apartheid. Britain. Constitution of Russian Federation (1993) Freidin, Russian History: A Brief Chronology (998-2000). (July 20, 2013). Retrieved from http://www.stanford.edu/class/slavic272/materials/chron_russia.pdf. Groenewald, J.P. (2003). The Machinery of Government. Structures and Functions of Government. Department of Public Service and Administration. Lwstedt, A. (2006). Apartheid. Ancient, Past and Present. N. A. (July 26, 2013). South African History organisation. General South African History Timeline: 1800s / South African History Online. Retrieved from http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/1800s. Pares, B. (2011). A History of Russia. Parliament. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. (1996). Rukavishnikov, V. (n. d). The Russian Political Culture at the beginning of the 21st Century. Thompson, L. (1990). A History of South Africa. New Haven: Yale University Press.