Self-study
P1
With the elimination of the apartheid system, South Africa now confronts the transition to a rights-based legal system in a constitutional democracy. ███
Intro topic ·
South Africa's transition to a rights-based legal system
Concern ·
New system is less rule-bound, and more interpretative
A constitutional court will hear arguments on whether laws passed by p arliament are constitutional. This has never happened in South Africa before, so there is uncertainty.
P2
█████ ███████ ███████ ███ █████████ █████ ███ ██████████ ██ █████████ █ ████████████ ███████ ██ █ ███████████ ███████ ██████████ █ ████ █████ ██ █████████ ███ ████████ ███████ ██████ ██ █████████ █ ████ ██ ██████ ██ ███ ████████████ ███ ████████████ ███ █████ ███ ███ ████████ ███████ ███ ████ ██ ██████ ███ ████ █████ ██ ████ ███████ ██████ ███ ████ ██ ██████████ ████ ████ ███ ████ ██ ███████████ ███ ███████ ███████ █ ███████████ ████ ███
Elaborate on concern ·
May be difficult to foster rights-based culture
Society is multiracial, with a wide range of political beliefs. The constitution's bill of rights is described very generally, and there's no legal precedent to help determine its meaning.
Use of international law ·
Can look to other countries' legal precedent, but need to be careful
Some scholars think that SA judges might blindly follow other countries' interpretations of their own constitutions. But, scholars are optimistic that SA judges will develop their own precedent over time.
P3
█████ ██████ ████ ████ ███████ ████ ███ █████ ██ ███ ███ ████ ██ ████ ██ ███ █████████ ███████ ███ ███ ██ █████ ██████ ███ ████ ████ █ ████ ██ ██████ ███████████ ████ ██ ███ ████████ ████ ████ ██ ████ ███████ ███ ███ ██ ██████████ ███████████ ██ █████████████ ██████ ███████████ █████ █████ █████ ████████ ███ █████████ ███████ ███ ████ ████ ███ ██ ███████████ ███ ████ ███ ██ ██ █████ ████ ██ █████ ███ ██████████ ██ ████ ██ █████████ ███████ ██ ███ ██████ █████ ██ ██ ██████████ ███████ █████ ██ █ ████████████ ███████ ██ ██ ████████ ███ ██████████ ████ ████ ██ ████ ███ ████████ ████ ███ █████ ██████ ██ ██ ██████ █ ████ ██ ██████████ ███ ███████ █ ███ ██ █████ █████ ██████ ███ ████ ███████ ███ █████ ██ ████████
Additional source of difficulty ·
SA citizens suspicious of law
Law in SA has traditionally been tool of oppression, so citizens break and oppose laws.
Passage Style
Problem-analysis
Single position
23.
The passage suggests that the ████████ ████████ ██████ ███ ███████████ ██ ███████ ███ █ ████████████ █████ ██████ ██ █████ ██████ ██ ████ ██████ ███ ██
a
deep skepticism
This is too negative. The author doesn’t suggest that she’s skeptical the new system will succeed. Although she discusses difficulties the system will face, that doesn’t imply a belief that those difficulties are unlikely to be overcome.
b
open pessimism
This is too negative. The author doesn’t suggest that she’s pessimistic the new system will succeed. Although she discusses difficulties the system will face, that doesn’t imply a belief that those difficulties are unlikely to be overcome.
c
total indifference
The author isn’t indifferent. There’s evidence she’s interested in the success of the new legal system. Why else would she write a passage describing difficulties that the system would face? At the very least she shows some scholarly interest in the issue; so we can’t describe her opinion as “total indifference.”
d
guarded optimism
This is the best answer. The author is guardedly optimistic in that she recognizes the many difficulties facing the new legal system, but also indicates that scholars are hopeful they can overcome at least one of these difficulties. If you don’t think this answer is perfect, that’s fine. It’s the best available answer.
e
complete confidence
This is too strongly positive. The author doesn’t say anything suggesting that she thinks all the difficulties facing the new legal system will be overcome.