PSC3702
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, PSC3702 MAY-JUN 2024
UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS
May/June 2024
PSC3702
POLITICS AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Total Marks: 100
Examiners
First Examiner: Prof Dirk Kotzé
Second Examiner: Prof Everisto Benyera
External Examiner: Dr Farhana Paruk
Duration: 4 hours
This paper consists of 7 pages, including this page.
Instructions
YOU HAVE TO ANSWER BOTH THE SECTIONS: 1 and 2.
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SECTION 1: SECTION 1: INDIVIDUAL QUESTIONS
Answer each of the following twenty-five (25) questions. Each question counts
for two (2) marks. You are required to provide only the answer and no further
discussion (for example, if question 19 is: ‘When is the ideal time for
negotiations to commence?’, the answer is only: 19. When a mutually hurting
stalemate exists). (50)
1. Which one of the main international courts adjudicating Public International
Law is described by the following?:
“The court is able to hear cases against individual persons accused of criminal
deeds, and not only states; the members of the Court must agree to accept its
Statute and they do not become automatically members simply because they
are UN members”.
2. Burton and Montville developed Human Needs Theories to understand
conflict. Which one of the following statements correctly describes elements
of this category of theories?
• They deal primarily with the material needs of individuals or groups.
• These needs are not negotiable when it comes to their inclusion in
constitutions or electoral systems.
• “Track I” diplomacy can be used to deal with needs-specific issues.
3. Interest-based (or merit-based) negotiations differ from positional
negotiations in fundamental respects. Which one of the two approaches would
have the best potential to produce positive results in the following situation?:
“It is not a zero-sum conflict where one party will gain everything and the other
one will lose everything. More options are available for the negotiators. Both
parties want to avoid a deadlock situation and are therefore willing to make
compromises. For them it is not about their personal interests but about shared
results”.
4. What type of political conflict (direct, structural or cultural) is described by the
following?:
“Foreigners are accused of creating an uneven playing field with regard to a
range of employment opportunities. The local population regards it as unfair
while the foreigners experience it as a violation of their rights and as
discrimination against them, even in the absence of explicit xenophobic
violence”.
5. Is the following associated with a symbolic, fractionated or package deal
negotiation agenda?:
“This type of agenda is often used in resolving international conflicts to deal
with several issues at the same time, and these issues can be linked to each
other”.
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6. In which one of the four phases of negotiation (normalization/talks about
talks, preliminary bargaining, substantive negotiations and consolidation) does
the following take place?:
“The parties in the negotiation must agree that all of them have a role to play in
the transition. They must also agree on how they will manage political violence”.
7. Transitional justice can be used as confidence-building for implementation of
sustainable peace. Which one of the following options describes this role of
transitional justice the least accurately? Explain in one sentence why:
• Transitional justice can exist only in the form of restorative justice and not
also as punitive justice.
• For those who have committed serious human rights’ crimes, transitional
justice cannot provide guarantees about their future in a new democratic
dispensation.
• Truth commissions cannot grant amnesty for crimes like war crimes or
genocide.
• Not everyone agrees that amnesty, as an element of transitional justice, will
promote justice.
8. This question deals with the means of managing conflict. Which conflict
management instrument (ie., mediation, risk analysis, enquiry or conciliation) is
described in the following explanation?:
“The Secretary General of the United Nations appointed an envoy to go to a
new conflict situation in the Middle East to contact the main parties involved in
the situation, determine what their positions in the conflict are, what the options
for managing the conflict are, and then to report back to the Secretary General.”
9. Rational choice theory is one of the theories available for analysing decision-
making in a conflict situation. Which one of the following assumptions is NOT
part of this theory?
“The decision-makers are aware of all the available options and they are also
aware of the possible consequences of these options, although it is not
practically possible to know their unintended consequences. They will select
the one option with the lowest costs and the highest benefits, while the choice
of what is most beneficial for the situation is less decisive. Decision-makers will
not take a decision which is necessarily the same as one taken earlier under
similar conditions, because conditions can never be the same”.
10. Which phase of negotiation (i.e., talks about talks, preliminary bargaining,
substantive negotiations or consolidation) is described by the following?
“The different positions and interests of the parties are put on the table. Different
options are considered in the search for a compromise. In the case of a
negotiation agenda with a package of issues, agreement on one issue can be
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