000			01775pab a2200169 454500
008			180718b1997 xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
100			_aAyeni, Victor O.
245			_aEvolution of and prospects for the ombudsman in Southern Africa
260			_c1997
300			_ap.543-63
362			_aDec
520			_aSouthern Africa presents a particularly interesting insight into the renewed worldwide focus on the role of the ombudsman in the democratic process. In the first place, the region has a unique history of political change with some of the most intense and prolonged conditions of instability in the continent but it is, in the post-cold war era, emerging as the most confident region in Africa. Second, the ombudsman institution has, for a long time, been closely associated with Southern Africa's erratic history. Indeed, the region has had the highest concentration of active ombudsman offices, both governmental and non-governmental, in the continent. This fact beats all imagination, for the ombudsman was never originally expected to thrive in places that share the characteristics of most Southern African countries. Paradoxically, Botswana, which in classical ombudsman thought best meets the conditions for adoption, is the only English-speaking multi-party democracy that did not have a functioning office as of mid-1997. Southern Africa is a region of paradoxes whose unique ombudsmanship movement should be of interest to anyone interested in understanding prevailing governance concerns and the persistent institutional crises that have bedevilled African countries in the post-colonial period. - Reproduced
650			_aOmbudsman - Africa, South
650			_aOmbudsman
773			_aInternational Review of Administrative Sciences
909			_a37117
999			_c37117 _d37117