Federalism/confederalism as a means of white‐black conflict resolution: conceptual dissonance in white nationalist ranks

Abstract

In the context of the National Party's commitment to accommodationist in stead of confrontational policies, the situational realities of the incipient White‐Black power struggle in South Africa preclude both grand partition and one‐man‐one‐vote ma‐joritarianism as viable policy options for the predictable future. Although the Party leadership has signalled a clear preference for confederalism as the ideal politico‐constitutional basis for conflict resolution, realpolitik may eventually induce it to reconsider the federal option. However, considerable confusion surrounding the structural‐functional differences between the two systems permeates Party thinking. In the article elements of this conceptual problem are identified with regard to a scheme for a regional confederation mooted by the Bureau for Economic and Political Analysis of the University of Pretoria.