Contending regime models and the contest for the middle ground in South African politics

Abstract

One of the necessary conditions for a process of substantive bargaining is the existence of a contract zone. Given the nature of the contending regime models being promoted in South Africa, and the context of scarcity, inequality and polarization, a contract zone cannot be assumed to exist, which severely constrains the bargained transformation of South Africa into a post‐apartheid society. A process of bargaining about bargaining in which the aim is to create such a contract zone, by establishing a mutual perception that the contending regime models are compatible rather than mutually exclusive, is required in order to initiate such a process of substantive bargaining.