2. METHODOLOGIES
2.1 The Research Model
2.1.3 The Emancipatory Systems Approach
A study of the history of local government in South Africa and the injustices of the apartheid regime confirm that the choice of this methodology is totally justified. Specific provision is made in the Constitution for municipalities to encourage the involvement of communities and community organisations in the matters of local government. Exclusion from democratic local government on racial grounds has resulted in a situation where communities are unaware of the means available to improve their lives. Therefore, as residents will not be able to immediately exercise all their rights to participate as provided by the law, municipalities are also tasked with building capacity in communities. This methodology will be used, therefore, to determine what municipal councils have done to assist communities in recognising that their current state of affairs is not inevitable and that it is something which they can transform through their own actions. More specifically, what steps have municipalities taken to encourage democracy in communities by promoting public participation in decision-making.
Development is essential to promote the general welfare of the majority of the people. Effective development is not possible without effective governance and administration. The Constitution tasks municipalities with the promotion of social and economic development of communities.24 In discussing the development duties of municipalities, reference is also made to the requirement that a municipality must manage its administration and budgeting and planning processes to give priority to the basic needs of the community and to promote the social and economic development of the community.25 Development is aimed at promoting the general welfare as far as possible, in other words, to make for a better way of life for residents.
The way of life of people, how they spend their life in a specific environment to remain alive and enjoy living, consists altogether of many different components ranging from material wants to spiritual needs, the satisfaction of which is influenced by factors such as residence, education, occupation and reaction. The welfare of people does not only relate to prosperity, education, occupation and reaction. Therefore, this methodology will be used to determine the municipality's involvement in the promotion of the social development of communities and the emancipation of individuals through community participation in municipal decision-making.
Insum, flowing from the different schools of systems theory this thesis will develop a methodology consistent with the pluralist approach, being sensitised to the concerns of each of the three methodologies and hopefully compensating for the weaknesses of each too. This review has alerted the study to three broad categories of research, structural design, organisational culture and institutional capacity. In researching the structural design this part of the research, which will produce information on decision-making structures and processes, is likely to form the largest part of the research, given the vast volume of statutory provisions which regulate the structural and procedural aspects of decision-making. The research will therefore seek to identify the structures and processes involved in municipal decision-making and, thereafter, capture data pertaining to their composition, terms of reference, rules of procedure, delegations of authority etc. Itwill also attempt to determine the steps taken by councils to advance the requirements of efficiency and democracy in the design of their decision-making structures and processes. Finally, an attempt will be made to determine the basis of a comparative analysis which will enable comparisons to be drawn on the levels of efficiency achieved by the various municipalities in the performance of the decision-making function. Similarly, the application of the democratic practices by those municipalities will also be compared.
In researching the organisational culture, the focus will be on whether or not the culture of the organisation has changed. The new system of local government calls for a change in the culture of the organisation. In essence, it will be necessary to make an assessment of the attitude of the key role players (the mayor, the executive, city manager, senior officials, communities and civil society) on whether or not, the stated objective for the municipality to conduct its activities in more democratic ways than it did before, has been achieved. Their views on issues pertaining to the transformation of local government, capacity building, empowerment, participative governance, gender equality will assist in determining whether a change in culture has, in fact, taken place.
Finally, with regard to institutional capacity, the research will proceed on the basis that the new system of local government promotes the concept of creating space for communities and community organisations to become involved in matters of local government. Municipalities are expected to allocate funds to develop a culture of community participation by, for example, building the capacity of local communities in municipal decision-making. The research will seek to determine whether municipalities have the necessary institutional capacity to promote the new system of local government. For example, the research will attempt to determine what attempts have been made to institutionalise public participation, the existence of community strategies and attempts at building the capacity of communities, councillors and the administration (officials).
2.2 Quantitativeand Qualitative Approaches.
Within the Systems model, it is necessary to determine whether the research is going to entail quantitative or qualitative approaches. Mouton states that the quantitative approach may be described in general terms as that approach to research in the social sciences that is more highly formalised as well as more explicitly controlled, with a range that is more exactly defined, and which, in terms of the methods used is relatively close to the physical sciences.26 In contradistinction, qualitative approaches are those approaches in which the procedures are not as strictly formalized, while the scope is more likely to be undefined, and a more philosophical mode of operation is adopted??
Ernest House agrees that debates about methodology are productive only if the subject matter is considered first.28 Further that research methodology depends primarily on the nature of the subject matter of the discipline, the content, the object and what one is trying to investigate.29 In addressing the quantitative/qualitative divide he states that quantitative studies are more precise, explicit, and predetermined and assume that the relevant variables can be identified in advance and validity measured.3D They use mathematical models as simplified representations of substantive problems.3l On the other hand, he maintains that qualitative studies rely on more provisional questions, data collection sites, people to interview, and things to observe.32
In evaluating the subject matter of this thesis, cognisance must be taken of the need for a flexible approach given the diversity of the concepts to be included in the research. House argues that as the
investigation may also change: new methods may be needed to deal with formulated content.33 In similar vein, Marshall and Rossman maintain that because the research progresses, the methods may change and the researcher must ensure this flexibility.34
Charles Reichardt and Sharon Rallis, while acknowledging the substantial differences between qualitative and quantitative research traditions maintain "that a meaningful and enduring partnership between qualitative and quantitative researchers based on shared fundamental values is both possible and desirable,,35 Mouton, in summarising the differences between qualitative and quantitative approaches reduces those to differences in structuring, control and scope.36 He states that qualitative approaches are relatively more open and broader in the way in which they tackle problems than are quantitative approaches.37 He concludes by pointing out that it is important to emphasize the parallels and areas of overlap between these two approaches.38
While acknowledging this potential harmony, this study is conducted mostly along qualitative lines, specifically using case-studies to offer a series of fine-grained accounts of a complex subject. While the findings of such a study has limited generalisability, the research design nevertheless allows for the disproving of certain claims, for example, the case-studies disprove the claims that executive mayors-in-committee are more efficient than executive committees.