Abstract

This paper reviews the public policy thinking available to transforming countries like South Africa in the course of fundamental changes to their employment relations systems. Four possible pathways, labelled neo-liberalism, pluralism, corporatism and elitism and devised in the spirit of “middle-range” theorising, are identified as offering possible solutions to the dilemmas and constraints faced. This framework is used to explore the particular policy route taken by South Africa, post liberation. The paper ends with a discussion of unresolved dilemmas that might prompt policy change, again using South Africa as a case study.