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South Africa is in the midst of relatively peaceful democratization and the West has little interest in the movement, according to Stephen Orvis, editor of the current journal Issue , which covers the second democratic elections in South Africa. Orvis and the authors agree that the biggest story is the "relative uneventfulness" of the 1999 elections.

"South Africa is one of the most 'hopeful' new democracies in the world today," says Orvis, Ph.D., associate professor of government at Hamilton College. "Despite serious problems -- particularly economic stagnation, continuing inequality, and high crime -- all political actors seem to have fully accepted both the democracy and a market economy as key to the country's future. With an economy the size of the rest of sub-Saharan Africa combined, the entire region's future is tied to South Africa's success."

The articles in Issue include:

Ž Election 1999: Prospects for the Consolidation of Democracy in South Africa, by Khehla Shubane and Louise Stack, Center for Policy Studies in South Africa. This article discusses the basis for the election and the issues surrounding democratization in a racially polarized society. The authors assert there will be long-term damaging effects having an entrenched dominant party like the ANC (African National Congress) which in this election increased its majority in Parliament to just under two-thirds. They write, "party competition in a democracy is not a luxury; it is essential."

Ž South Africa 1999: The ANC and Democratic Consolidation, by Roger Southall, professor of political studies at Rhodes University, South Africa. (e-mail R.Southall@ru.ac.za) Southall addresses issues including the transition from apartheid; constitutional democracy; economic management and delivery; and party dominance and political opposition. He points to the "relative uneventfulness" of the second democratic election, writing, "what some observers refer to as the 'normalcy' of the 1999 elections is as 'miraculous' as anything that occurred in 1994."

Ž Polls Apart: South African Women and the 1999 General Election, by Louise Vincent, senior lecturer, Department of Politics and International Studies, Rhodes University. (e-mail L.Vincent@ru.ac.za) Vincent addresses gender issues in the election and the "happenstance" commitment of the country to women's political representation. Women took 119 out of 400 seats in the national legislature, there are eight women ministers and eight deputy ministers in the new Parliament, and South Africa is currently "among the top handful of countries in the world in this regard." Yet, the author points out that much of this is "commitment" is a result of the party list system -- a system negotiated as the simplest and fairest end to apartheid. Five years later the flaws of the list system have led to suggestions to alter it. Vincent writes, "This may well mean that instead of a slow improvement in women's representation, future years will see a slow decline."

Professor Stephen Orvis studies comparative politics with an emphasis on Africa. His articles on rural development in Kenya and African democratization have appeared in African Studies Review and Studies in Comparative International Development. His book, The Agrarian Question in Kenya, is published with University Presses in Florida. He also served as an international election observer in Kenya's transitional elections to democratic rule.

Note: Archbishop Desmond Tutu is giving a lecture at Hamilton College on Tuesday, April 11. Former South African President F.W. de Klerk spoke at Hamilton in 1998.

Contact information: 315-859-4310 or sorvis@hamilton.edu

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