Globalisation and democratisation: the prospects for social democracy in South Africa

Abstract The prospects for social democracy in South Africa are assessed in the context of Gray's (1998) False Dawn and Hermann Giliomee and Charles Simkins’ (eds, 1999) The Awkward Embrace. Contrary to these authors, it is maintained that governments in lesser‐developed countries do have options in shaping their economic and social policies, can escape the dictates of neo‐liberal orthodoxy, and chart a path towards a social democratic outcome in which the state achieves heightened legitimacy.