Ten years into the 'new' South Africa, how does democracy function? This volume provides a retrospective on a decade of elections and democracy in South Africa. The book analyzes the evolution of the party system and electoral campaigns; tracks changes in public opinion and voter motivations; assesses the political implications of socioeconomic change; depicts the evolution of parliament and the electoral system; probes the often-tense relationship between media and government; analyzes the institutionalization the Independent Electoral Commission; and, finally, argues that South Africa is witnessing a 'normalization' of politics. The book speaks to a broad range of topics, all linked through the electoral theme, which get to the heart of many issues in contemporary South African politics.

The book?s collection of research and analyses aims to close a substantial gap in systematic analyses of local politics, elections and government in South Africa. This book?s 20 authors represent the perspectives of many of South Africa?s most accomplished scholars. The collective project sheds valuable light on ?the local, the heart of politics in South Africa?.

"While ethnic identities are found to play a key role in politics, not all members of a group toe their group's line and vote for its affiliated party. Why do some voters choose not to vote with their group when doing so can often be advantageous given the norms of ethnic favoritism observed across Africa? According to Afrobarometer data, between 30-52% of voters in Sub-Saharan Africa do not vote for their ethnic groups' party. This book argues that as individuals are less readily identified as members of their ethnic group, they are less likely to be treated as if they are members of that group, which in turn weakens their identification with the group. Individuals who weakly identify with their group are less likely to be influenced by their identity when voting. This approach makes this book the first study to theorize and empirically test the effects of the everyday identity construction process on ethnic salience and in turn on vote choice. To test the theory, the book develops the concept of ethnic distance and measures it empirically. Empirical tests find support for the argument in South Africa, Uganda, and the United States. These cases allow me to test the effect of ethnic distance on several different ethnic dimensions (race, language, and region) in a variety of contexts. As a first step toward matching our scholarly concepts of ethnicity to its complexity in the real world, this study is poised to alter the way we think about ethnicity in politics"--

The design of electoral systems and executive types is increasingly being recognized the key lever of constitutional engineering to be applied in the interests of political accommodation and stability in ethnically divided societies. In this groundbreaking comparative study of democratic design in Southern Africa, Andrew Reynolds finds that the decisions about how to constitute representative parliaments have wide ranging effects on the type of parties and party system that develops, the nature of executive-legislative relations, and the inclusiveness of both majority and minority interests in the process of governance. While electoral system design is the primary focus of the book, the related constitutional issues of whether to choose a presidential or parliamentary system, and whether to entrench consensual, consociational or majoritarian government are also discussed. Analysing the experiences of Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, the author presents a host of revealing conclusions that help shed light on the success or failure of democratic design in other fledgling democracies, in both Africa and beyond.

This paper explores these different aspects of voter behaviour to assess whether elections can act as an effective accountability mechanism in South Africa. It finds that, while voters are willing to withdraw support from the incumbent party if they disapprove of its performance, they are unlikely to move their support to another party. Sanctioning government performance in the traditional sense is weak, making political accountability through elections more elusive. Paradoxically, the way in which political accountability currently manifests itself in the South African political system may actually lead to the entrenchment of one-party dominance, further reducing incentives for responsive and accountable governance by the incumbent party. The paper concludes that in the South African context electoral accountability relies less on the notion of sanctions as a means to punish government. Instead, greater attention should be given to the method of 'selection' as a means to control politicians. If this line of reasoning is adopted, elections can still act as an accountability mechanism and even as a sanctioning device. An accountability relationship can therefore be established when voters regard elections as an opportunity to choose among parties to select the best possible party on offer.

This title was first published in 2000. A comprehensive comparison of voting patterns in seven countries of Southern Africa. The modern democratic electoral histories of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe are placed within the contexts of their pre-colonial and colonial polities. The extent to which urbanization and the regional distribution of language, ethnicity and race impacts on the electoral geography of the sub-continent is demonstrated statistically and cartographically. The analysis is complemented by anecdotal evidence gathered during personal interviews and discussions with voters, politicians, government officials and academics.

This book, the second of two volumes, explores the challenges and opportunities presented by the increased presence of social media within African politics. Electoral processes in Africa have assumed new dimensions due to the influence of social media. As social media permeates different aspects of elections, it is ostensibly creating new challenges and opportunities. Most evident are the challenges of hate speech, misogyny and incivility. This book considers the impact of digital media before, during, and after elections, as well as authorities' attempts to legislate and regulate the internet in response. Contributions to this volume analyse social media posts, transgressive images, newspaper articles, and include case studies of Algeria, Zimbabwe, Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria and Uganda. This results in the delivery of an original depiction of the use of social media in a variety of African contexts. This book will appeal to academics and students of media and communication studies, political studies, journalism, sociology, and African studies.

South Africa's first ever non-racial and multi-party election was perhaps the most significant global event of 1994. From the ashes of a repressive, segregated and racist state emerged - miraculously and relatively free from bloodshed - a new, multi-racial nation, led by one of the political icons of the late twentieth century, Nelson Mandela. Based on a large-scale and non-partisan public information project, this book is the definitive account of the process of democratisation in South Africa. The Launching Democracy project mounted teams of observers and monitored the campaign, party organisation, the media and voter education efforts throughout the crucial and populous areas of the Western Cape, Natal and the Reef. The result is an unparalleled source of information about the way the election really worked and the political sociology of South Africa in general. Written by a team of distinguished experts, the book analyses the results of the election in detail (and publishes them in full for the first time). It examines the intricacies of the disputed electoral process and the drama of the count, revealing irregularities, rivalry and widespread fear and intimidation. In a highly readable final section, the book carries the story into the post-election reality, exploring popular opinion and the demands now facing the Mandela government.

For undergraduate and taught masters courses on modern South Africa as part of a politics, area studies, development studies or combined social sciences degree. This book provides an appraisal of critical moments in South Africa's history: segregation and racial supremacy, black opposition, politics under apartheid and violence and terror. The authors include up-to-date information such as the transfer of power in 1994, enfranchisement and political realignment, the post-electoral period of adjustment and socio-economic transition, the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the 1999 elections.