The Republic of South Africa (RSA) held its first fully democratic elections in April 1994. They were a highly visible signal that the RSA is really moving from the era of apartheid towards a democratic constitutional state. The process is an archetypal case of a negotiated transition of a regime, and as such it is of great interest to students of constitutional mechanisms.

The contributors to this book, leading South African political scientists, discuss the process, the difficulties and the achievements in the transformation of the RSA's political and legal institutions. They address various aspects of constitutional design and their interactions with social forces. They examine the new constitution, the roles of president and executive, the electoral, party and parliamentary systems, and the Constitutional Court. They look at the public service, at questions of labour and corporatism, at the RSA's changing external relations and at the position of the armed forces. The new government's Reconstruction and Development Programme, of which so much is expected, is seen to be particularly vulnerable to the pull of opposing forces.