VOA标准英语2012--Some African Constitutions Give Voice to Grass Roots, Disenfranchised

Some African Constitutions Give Voice to Grass Roots, Disenfranchised

 

Nigeria and Ethiopia have adopted federal systems that allow citizens to elect their own representatives at the state and local levels. The states also have their own courts and can collect taxes for their own use.

Dele Olowu, a consultant¹ on governance issues and president of the Africa-Europe Foundation based in The Hague [the Netherlands], said "The major responsibility of local governments," he said, "includes basic health services, basic education, rural roads and economic planning for the region, for their territorial² space. And of course water, sanitation³...."

South Africa is divided into central, provincial⁴ and local levels, with the last two tiers enjoying a degree of autonomy from the national government. And, Kenya’s 2010 constitution gives more power to new regional governments.

Olowu is optimistic about the future of federalism on the continent.

"The reason countries [have broken up] in Africa," he said, "is that...there was not enough autonomy within the federation⁵. So the force of federalism is inevitable⁶ in Africa because you have different groups of people, nation states in a sense with their own languages and cultures, and they need a modicum⁷ of autonomy (like Nigeria)."

Central control

Winluck Wahiu, the project manager of the Constitution-Building Process program at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance in Stockholm, Sweden, said new African leaders often talk about federalism, and some constitutions do experiment with greater local and regional autonomy. But he said there’s still widespread resistance to full federalism, which would entail⁸ greater legislative⁹ and judicial¹⁰ independence from the central government. Wahiu said even in Ethiopia, with 11 designated ethnic¹¹ states, the rules still tend to protect officials in the capital who make policy and issue directives for the other tiers to carry out.

Among the areas often kept under tight central control are the economy, education, agriculture and security. Even parts of transport planning and infrastructure¹² are often centralized.

Decentralization vs. federalism

Wahiu said it’s more common for countries to try to decentralize services than give real power over decision-making or the budget. In such cases, the central government usually continues to cover the costs of the services.

Among those countries that have adopted policies to decentralize services are Botswana, Cameroon, Ghana, Tanzania and Mozambique. Tanzania allows local authorities to manage basic education, health, and water and sanitation.

"There is still a bit of shyness about [giving power to state or local government]," he said. "This is still part of the philosophy that…African state capacity is seen as weak. Holding the country together is seen as a priority for the political and military branches. And it is suspected at a political level that allowing autonomy at a local level might produce an incentive¹³ for the local level to stop listening to the center, and you [might] spur this dispersal of [centrifugal] forces."

Local participation¹⁴

Federalism and decentralizing services are not the only ways of encouraging local involvement in politics.

Some constitutions support local government efforts to give citizens a direct say in prioritizing the services they need from limited funds.

Wahiu described one plan in Uganda that encourages citizens to help determine local budgets. It’s an idea that he says originally came from Argentina and other Latin American countries.

"Essentially," he explained, "you sit together at the local level. You can even form a committee or a council. You say what your needs are, document them and pass on the documentation to state officials. They are obliged to take that into account when they submit their budgetary requests to the national governments. So this is a way of getting citizens to say what they need money for, according to their own priorities on the ground."

Wahiu expects African countries to continue to experiment with local level governance and make changes as needed.

Overlapping¹⁵ mandates¹⁶

In some places, local, state and national powers seem contradictory¹⁷ and need to be clarified. He cited one case in South Africa, where the constitution insists on cooperation and coordination¹⁸ between different tiers of government, but also allows the provincial governments some freedom to decide how to implement¹⁹ national policy.

"In the health sector," he said, "the national government is committed to doing things to minimize HIV infection, and they’ve got a national policy. But the ministries²⁰ cannot dictate²¹ priorities to the provincial and local government level or even direct how they use their budgets.

"So you have this reality that the local level is not implementing²² the national policy, or there is skewed implementation²³ of national policy between one area and another, depending on the skills, level of education of the people who are employed at the different local levels. It creates a haphazard²⁴ implementation of national policy."

New remedies

In some African countries, citizens may not have a direct say in allocation of funds and services. But efforts are underway to make it easier for them to petition the government for help with administrative²⁵ problems.

For example, the constitutions of South Africa, Uganda and Kenya provide for the creation of anti-corruption and human rights commissions that will intercede²⁶ on behalf of the public.

"The constitution practically removes fees," explained Wahiu. "You don’t pay to access information from these bodies. [And], if you are poor and are not able to go to court, you can go to these commissions and file a complaint, and that body will use state money to try and investigate and give you a solution that works.

"The accessibility of these bodies is unique and different from accessibility of ordinary courts of laws. These bodies are also highly populist in the sense of their compositions. You find constitutions providing for representation of civil society in these bodies, which is unique, because you don’t find representation of civil society in parliament or in the judiciary.

"To participate in a parliament," he continued, "you need to belong to a political party. But to participate in a human rights commission, you could be [a] political [activist], provided you are part of a civil society organization like a bar association, a women’s group, or a farmers cooperative."

Enhancing women's participation

Increasing the numbers of women political representatives has also become a big constitutional issue.

Rwanda’s constitution provides a quota²⁷ for women and other groups in government. As a result, Rwanda has one of the highest numbers of women in parliament in Africa, nearly 50 % in the lower chamber²⁸.

Wahiu said Rwanda has similar rules for other organs of government.

"They’ve also created a constitutional forum²⁹ called an Inter-Political Party Forum," he said, "whose job it is to discipline political parties so no party espouses³⁰ what they call the ideology³¹ of genocide. So [in effect] the forum legitimizes the discourse³² political parties can have, the issues political parties can engage in and they also check that parties have national character – that their composition is not ethnic, age or gender³³ exclusive."

Recently, Kenya has introduced a constitutional requirement to guarantee women’s membership in parliament, the judiciary and other state organs.

African constitutions also encourage the inclusion of women and minorities in another important way. They now contain a number of international treaties and conventions on human rights, including the rights of women and indigenous³⁴ people.

African democrats³⁵ say the combination of structural³⁶ reforms and progressive legislation should ensure the voices of the poor and disenfranchised are brought into government decision-making.

1 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

2 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

3 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

4 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

5 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

6 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

7 modicum   

n.少量，一小份

参考例句：

• If he had a modicum of sense,he wouldn't do such a foolish thing.要是他稍有一点理智，他决不会做出如此愚蠢的事来。
• There's not even a modicum of truth in her statement.她说的话没有一点是真的。

8 entail   

vt.使承担，使成为必要，需要

参考例句：

• Such a decision would entail a huge political risk.这样的决定势必带来巨大的政治风险。
• This job would entail your learning how to use a computer.这工作将需要你学会怎样用计算机。

9 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

10 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

11 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

12 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

13 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

14 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

15 overlapping   

adj./n.交迭（的）

参考例句：

• There is no overlapping question between the two courses. 这两门课程之间不存在重叠的问题。
• A trimetrogon strip is composed of three rows of overlapping. 三镜头摄影航线为三排重迭的象片所组成。

16 mandates   

托管（mandate的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Individual mandates would require all people to purchase health insurance. 个人托管要求所有人都要购买健康保险。
• While I agree with those benefits, I'm not a supporter of mandates. 我同意上述好处，我不是授权软件的支持者。

17 contradictory   

adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立

参考例句：

• The argument is internally contradictory.论据本身自相矛盾。
• What he said was self-contradictory.他讲话前后不符。

18 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

19 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

20 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。

21 dictate   

v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令

参考例句：

• It took him a long time to dictate this letter.口述这封信花了他很长时间。
• What right have you to dictate to others?你有什么资格向别人发号施令？

22 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句

23 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

24 haphazard   

adj.无计划的，随意的，杂乱无章的

参考例句：

• The town grew in a haphazard way.这城镇无计划地随意发展。
• He regrerted his haphazard remarks.他悔不该随口说出那些评论话。

25 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

26 intercede   

vi.仲裁，说情

参考例句：

• He was quickly snubbed when he tried to intercede.当他试着说情时很快被制止了。
• At a time like that there has to be a third party to intercede.这时候要有个第三者出来斡旋。

27 quota   

n.（生产、进出口等的）配额，（移民的）限额

参考例句：

• A restricted import quota was set for meat products.肉类产品设定了进口配额。
• He overfulfilled his production quota for two months running.他一连两个月超额完成生产指标。

28 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

29 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

30 espouses   

v.（决定）支持，拥护（目标、主张等）( espouse的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She followed the feminist movement; The candidate espouses Republican ideals. 她支持女权运动；这个侯选人支持共和党人的观点。 来自互联网
• Give me a break – every decent company espouses these things! 让我歇歇吧–每一个正规公司都赞成这些！ 来自互联网

31 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

32 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。

33 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

34 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

35 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

36 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。