Against the tide by Steven Friedman

The coalition government's failure to table a budget shows that its parties have still not figured out how to deal with their differences. But it may also show that the undemocratic way in which budgets have always been made is now under pressure. Politicians may now be demanding more of a say in the budget and this opens the way for citizens to demand it too.    

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Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.