Deliberation, Gender and the State in South Africa.

Deliberative democrats recognize that the state is crucial for their project of improving democratic politics. But the effect of the state on deliberation is more heterogeneous and variable than they have recognized. Using women's access, voice and contestation as indicators of the openness and inclusiveness of public debate in South Africa, this paper analyzes how a democratizing state in a developing country created, facilitated, manipulated and undermined public debate during the first ten years of democracy. The findings suggest that deliberative theorizing on the state over universalizes the experience of established democracies, missing significant differences among states, the complexity within them and variations in government interests over time. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]