Forging Constitutional and Parliamentary Democracy Through Constituency Offices in South Africa

Abstract

This chapter deliberates on the role and importance of parliamentary democracy in consolidating democratic governance at community level through the establishment of constituency offices. The democratic government is challenged not only to be inclusive but also to ensure governance measures and that institutional arrangements are in place to consolidate parliamentary democracy based on the precepts enshrined in the Constitution. Thus, constituency offices provide MPs with a forum to share policy related information and further engage constituencies in matters pertaining to policy making and advocacy. The chapter argues that effective constituency offices should not only be the channel of information and communication between MPs and the people, but should also be agents for policy advocacy and implementation. The chapter made use of secondary data in the form of books, journal articles, and governmental policies and documents as well as selected interviews with national members of parliament (MPs) and provincial members of parliaments (PMPs).