Engagement's Possibilities and Limits as a Socioeconomic Rights Remedy

This Article first analyzes the Constitutional Court of South Africa's three engagement decisions. It then divides engagement into two different categories--litigation engagement and political engagement--and offers suggestions for transforming the process into a more effective remedy in each category. Drawing on the work of Charles Epp, this Article argues that political engagement, if structured correctly, offers the greatest potential as an effective mechanism for enforcing socioeconomic rights. Realization of that potential will require a sustained commitment by civil society organizations active in socioeconomic rights issues and a shift from using engagement as a litigation tactic to using it as a tool for political advocacy.