ABSTRACT
The Antarctic Treaty had twelve original signatories, and, after a slow start, it has attracted a further 20 governments, of which the most significant developments have occurred during the past decade. The emergence of Antarctica as an international political problem has been characterised during the early 1980s by debate and controversy about the level of participation in the decision-making procedures of the Antarctic Treaty System. The Antarctic Treaty was characterised by limited participation, since certain criteria had to be satisfied for the attainment of Consultative Party status. During the UN debates since 1983 comments by the Consultative Parties about South Africa were conspicuous by their absence, presumably on account of a deliberate desire to play down a difficult problem. The international debate about the future of Antarctica, and especially of the Antarctic Treaty System, has assumed the form of a confrontation between elitist and democratic perspectives of control.
