ABSTRACT
In a democracy, any group may form a political party and membership is open to all citizens. Liberal democracy is in trouble. Perhaps even more parlous for liberal democracy than the rising power of its opponents, is the declining satisfaction of its supporters. In respect of local democratic rule, the same model of democracy applies but with an important qualification. While the exclusion of important social groups from politics, most notably the urban poor, has clear implications for the democracy component of the liberal democratic model, there are two important additional challenges that face democratic institutions in the urban South. The first is the constriction of democratic institutions from elections through to participatory spaces by authoritarian rulers and social groups. The second concern with democracy is the capture of democratic institutions, especially participatory institutions, by powerful social groups, whether political parties, corrupt officials and their wealthy sponsors, patrons and clients, or middle-class networks.
