Participatory democracy meets the hard rock of energy policy
South Africa's National Integrated Resource Plan
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7280037 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Richard Calland (University of Cape Town), Smita Nakhooda (Overseas Development Institute) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 912-931 |
| Publication date | 2012-10-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Democratization (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1351-0347 • E-ISSN: 1743-890X |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13510347.2012.709688 |
| OpenAlex | W1966664510 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 10 |
| References cited | 3 |
South Africa faces a demanding period of policymaking in search of sustainable energy solutions, which are required if the country is to reduce future increase in its greenhouse gas emissions. The most recent platform for this process was the drafting of the Integrated Resource Plan 2 (IRP 2). The Constitutional provisions that require participation in law-making have been strengthened, placing an onus on government to facilitate public involvement. This article examines the extent to which constitutional and statutory duty to permit meaningful public participation was met in developing the IRP2. In South Africa there are many obstacles to effective engagement, attenuated by the complexities of the political context, social inequities, and imperatives of economic growth. The case demonstrates that where civil society organizations develop strategic and technical capacity, they can begin to overcome these obstacles and compete with incumbent corporate stakeholders whose vested interest lies in monopolizing more secretive and exclusionary decision processes, where government departments struggle to address the scale, urgency and inter-connected complexity of sustainable development. But the IRP 2 case study is also a cautionary tale that demonstrates the limits of what can be achieved through constructive dialogue if stakeholders have uneven access to decision-making processes and uneven capacity to have influence, especially in processes where a premium is placed on technical expertise and where that expert knowledge may be used to manipulate outcomes
Citizen journalism · Civil society · Context (archaeology · Democracy · Economics · Government (linguistics · Political science · Politics · Statutory law · Community Development and Social Impact · Human Rights and Development · Law · Legal Issues in South Africa · Public Administration
Political power and renewable energy futures
People and power
Energy democracy
Introduction to the Special Issue
Public participation in environmental matters
Advancing energy democracy and citizenship in Africa
Perspectives on civic engagement in national strategies to combat climate change
Democratizing climate finance governance and the public funding of climate action
Low-carbon development and inclusive innovation systems
Electric activism
| Citations per year | 0.71 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2012 - 2026 (15) |
| Highly cited | No |