What Went Right? South African Democracy and the Study of Political Science

Abstract

South Africa has been an important case in both scholarship and the public eye for decades. The anti-apartheid struggle saw mass international participation, and there was significant international optimism about the South African transition to multiracial democracy in 1994. Yet in the years since the advent of the new democratic dispensation in South Africa, a kind of pessimism has set in about the prospects for the country and for its democracy. Into this conversation Evan Lieberman's book, Until We Have Won Our Liberty, inserts a new perspective, arguing that South African democracy has been remarkably successful. Relying on a largely descriptive analysis of progress in infrastructure, rights guarantees, and dignified development, Lieberman argues that democratic performance in the country, especially given the starting point for democracy, has exceeded reasonable expectations. Lieberman's focus on what has gone right in South African democracy bucks many disciplinary and scholarly norms but presents a compelling argument for introspection on the part of the field.