Electoral politics in South Africa

Assessing the first democratic decade This comprehensive volume brings together contributions and diverse opinions from leading and emerging South African and international scholars to assess the quality of democracy and the electoral process in South Africa over the past ten years, with particular emphasis on the 2004 elections. 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. It offers an absorbing analysis of the evolution of the party system and party campaigns; tracks changes in public opinion and voter motivations; assesses the political implications of socio-economic change; depicts the evolution of parliament and the electoral system; probes the often tense relationship between media and government; and analyses the institutionalisation of the Independent Electoral Commission. Electoral Politics in South Africa serves as an essential sourcebook for information on the elections, the parties and their campaigns and as an authoritative contribution to careful electoral process analysis.

Preface
Contributors

Part 1 A Decade of Democracy

• A Voice for Some: South Africas Ten Years of Democracy
  Steven Friedman
• Two The Electoral Implications of Social and Economic Change since 1994
  Jeremy Seekings
• Voter Information, Government Evaluations, and Party Images in the First Democratic Decade
  Robert Mattes
• Parliament and the Electoral System: How Are South Africans Being Represented?
  Lia Nijzink and Jessica Piombo
• Five Electoral Administration: Achievements and Continuing Challenges
  Claude Kabemba

Part 2 The Party Campaigns

• The African National Congress: There Is No Party Like It; Ayikho Efana Nayo
  Tom Lodge
• The Democratic Alliance: Progress and Pitfalls
  Susan Booysen
• The Inkatha Freedom Party: Between the Impossible and the Ineffective
  Laurence Piper
• The New National Party: The End of the Road
  Collette Schulz-Herzenberg
• Struggling to Represent the Left: The Pan Africanist Congress, the Azanian Peoples Organization, and the Independent Democrats
  Thabisi Hoeane
• The Smallest Parties: The ACDP, UCDP, FF, MF, and UDM
  Sanusha Naidu and Mbogeni Manqele

Part 3 Results and Assessment

• Media Coverage in Election 2004:Were Some Parties More Equal Than Others?
  Gavin Davis
• The Results of Election 2004: Looking Back, Stepping Forward
  Jessica Piombo

Dr Jessica Piombo is the Regional Coordinator for Sub-Saharan Africa and Assistant Professor in the Department of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), where she teaches courses on Southern African politics. Piombo is also a research associate at Stanford’s Centre for African Studies, and a visiting scholar at the Centre for Social Science Research of the University of Cape Town.

Ms Lia Nijzink is the Project Manager of the African Legislatures Project.