The Fading of the Rainbow Nation? : A Study about Democratic Consolidation in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Abstract: This thesis addresses the level of democratic consolidation in South Africa. The study aimed to provide a deeper understanding of the current political situation and the general state of democracy. As a method, a single case study was used where the political situation in post-apartheid South Africa was applied upon the concept of democratic consolidation by using five distinctive consolidation arenas: civil society, political society, judiciary, bureaucratic society and economic society. The results of the analysis show a variance in the degree of democratic consolidation in the country. The judiciary is very much well-functioning and independent and can therefore be classified as consolidated. The civil society and some elements of the political society are mostly functioning and can be classified as mostly consolidated with some reservations, while the bureaucratic and economic societies are deemed to be not consolidated. However, South Africa also possesses several obstacles for genuine consolidation that applies to all arenas, namely high degrees of violence, low social trust, and institutional weakness. The democratic system in South Africa is not currently considered to be under serious existential threat and has proven itself capable of withstanding high degrees of pressure. Nevertheless, it is found to be suffering from a type of democratic fatigue and transformation stagnation, which could have the potential to result in more serious implications in the future. South Africa can therefore be classified as a partly consolidated democracy.