Advocacy Coalitions, Policy Entrepreneurs, and Windows of Opportunity: Tobacco Control in South Africa, 1948-2018

Abstract

Abstract This article examines the political history of tobacco control policy in South Africa from 1948 to 2018 by drawing on available historical documents, media reports, published books and articles, the grey literature, and face-to-face interviews with key policy actors. Tracing the historical evolution of tobacco control policies in South Africa reveals how embedded opposition from vested interest groups at every stage of the policy process complicates responses to the tobacco issue. This case study demonstrates how, despite such embedded difficulties, a confluence of regime change, evidence-based messaging, political will, policy entrepreneurs, and advocacy coalitions have led to the gradual transformation of tobacco control policy in South Africa over time. Understanding the historical evolution of tobacco control policy in South Africa opens up space for an in-depth inquiry that allows researchers to trace the policy-making process over the last seven decades, and to understand how those processes have facilitated a shift in the orientation of policy makers over time.