Democratization in South Africa

Abstract

South Africa has long been considered one of the countries where a transition to democracy is least likely. Yet in the beginning of 1990 the ruling National party (NP) did the unthinkable: it deliberately embarked on a process that would end white minority rule. The comparative context in which South Africa previously found itself was that of Northern Ireland and Greater Israel with their intractable communal conflicts in which inclusive democracy is unlikely outcome. ' Recently, however, several analyses have argued that South Africa was less divided and the prospects for democracy brighter than had been generally assumed. Van Zyl Slabbert states bluntly: There is no single or inherent reason why South Africa could not become a stable, functioning democracy.2 Sammy Smooha and Theodor Hanf declare that an individually-based liberal democracy is the only option for settling permanently the conflict in the country.3 Heribert Adam proclaims boldly: In South Africa, unlike in other divided societies, a vast majority of both sides agrees theoretically on a secular multiparty democracy in a unified state. Could it be that South Africa with advanced, interdependent economy constitutes far more of a common than a plural society?4