South African politics

SOUTH AFRICAN POLITICS

South African Politics

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South African Politics

South Africa 's first democratic elections was seen as a miracle which marked the shift from colonial racial dictatorship to a state of non-racial democracy defined around one of the most liberal-democratic constitutions that the world has ever known . This conception has been sustained by the successive conduct of popular elections which showed that it has gone through a long journey to democratic consolidation Given the legacy left behind by apartheid and the magnitude

of its democratic experience , this optimistic conception is interfered with by a number of considerations . The country is still being challenged by a number of social inequalities and the persistent weakness of the structural correlates of democratic endurance (Southall , 2001 . It is a widely held belief that South Africa 's democracy may be characterized by increased crime rate , economic stagnation , corruption and regional problems together with a myriad of other socio economic problems . The question is not however about the survival of democracy in South Africa but rather , the quality of that democracy . One apparent fact is that South African democracy is different from that found in the United States and the United Kingdom and this is mainly because f the path of development and the nature of South African community . In to comprehend how South Africa varies from other democracies , it is important to look back into the nature of South African politics and society and the influence of the international...