Dorkhanov Ilya

№ 4, 2016

• Political Systems of South Africa and Namibia: from Apartheid to Imperfect Democracy

  The article examines the differences between the political systems that developed in South Africa and Namibia after the collapse of the apartheid regime in the late 1980s – mid-1990s, and their influence on the level of democracy in these countries. On the basis of the comparative analysis of the forms of government, electoral and party systems in these countries, I.Dorkhanov comes to the conclusion that Namibia’s democratic development falls short of that in South Africa because it lacks mass and permanent opposition electorate, while in South Africa this role is assumed by the white and colored electorate of the Western Cape. The author shows that black citizens of South Africa are starting to form some ideological (although tinged with racial) identity and hypothesizes that the country might witness the emergence of new parties based on ideological rather than racial-ethnic solidarity. If this trend prevails, South Africa might develop a more European-like party system that is not based on racial-ethnic cleavages as is the case now.

  DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2016-83-4-56-67