Three Models of Affirmative Action through the Lens of Separation of Powers: South Africa, Canada, and India

Comparing three jurisdictions of India, South Africa, and Canada, this chapter argues that all of them are fighting historical injustices done to certain sections of their people through robust institutional mechanisms for appropriate implementation of affirmative action programmes and their effective judicial review. The chapter studies the issue not from the perspective of identification of designated groups with the objective of claiming the superiority of one model over the others, but rather aims at showing how history, structure of the constitutional set-up, and constitutional practices encourage different institutional mechanisms for implementation of affirmative action programmes in these countries.