SOUTH AFRICA

During the first fifteen years of democracy, South Africa benefited from strong institutions and a
widespread belief among key players in the value of collaboration. This made it possible for the
nation to put an end to destructive warfare and pursue win-win solutions. The middle class had
new opportunities to grow because of the acceleration of growth. Expanding access to social
subsidies and public services was made feasible by more financial flexibility, which decreased
the absolute level of poverty.

What was accomplished, however, was severely constrained in some important ways. Gains for
the poorest people did nothing to change the challenging economic and social conditions they
face. Less than 25% of the population, practically all of whom were white South Africans, lived
in middle-class or higher circumstances. Despite the assurances of mutual benefit, the majority
of South Africans had good cause to believe that the odds were still stacked against them. This
made South Africa's political system more vulnerable (Diamond, 2020).

The political agreement in South Africa was based on four distinct sub bargains:

1. A pact reached between the nation's newly elected political elite and the economic elite,
which is predominately white. This includes a dedication to economic reform,
particularly the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) initiative, as well as the rule of
law (including the preservation of private property).
2. A pact between the new political elites of the African National Congress, the ruling party
(ANC). The ANC is a large tent that encompasses a variety of ideologies, levels of
altruism, and regional, ethnic, and economic interests. Its implicit promise was that this
variety would be directed toward a common national goal through the combination of its
formal structures and governmental structures.
3. A promise of career advancement. One component was a dedication to defending the
rights of newly arrived (predominantly black) middle-class insiders. Another element was
 the assurance that individuals on the cusp of middle-class status would have easy access
to opportunities through a mix of education, job creation, and the elimination of racial
discrimination. A pledge to reduce extreme poverty through the redistribution of
governmental resources and services after minorities gain control.

Except for the final sub bargain, which was pursued at least until the 2010s, all of these
sub bargains were based on unstable grounds. Institutional pressures were intensifying.
Numerous BEE deals crossed the line between rule-based and more individualized dealmaking,
and the debate over who should take part in BEE programs was taken up by the ANC's inner-
elite. The public sector was under unprecedented pressure to adapt to a new political system. The
spread of opportunity throughout society might have triumphed over the constraints of the
aspirational commitments had South Africa been able to sustain a combination of visionary
leadership and East Asian rates of rapid economic growth for an extended period. Jacob Zuma
won a fiercely contested race for ANC leadership in 2009, becoming president. An accelerating
downward spiral of decline appeared to take hold over the next eight years (Diamond, 2019).

Political psychology uses the idea of political sophistication. It relates to how well someone
understands political activities, processes information, and develops political opinions. In South
Africa, people were first introduced in politics years ago where people were not knowledgeable
enough how it works. Campbell believes that rising education levels in our society would
gradually increase the public’s knowledge of ideological awareness. After the first ever
democratic election in South Africa, they educated their people well and gave more knowledge
about the election, politics and how it works.

People in South Africa can now vote based on their own knowledge and ideology of a true and
good leader for them. According to Wolfinger and Rosenst, the personal qualities that raise the
probability of voting are the skills that makes learning about politics easier. Since South Africa
decided to educate more their people, they can now vote and elect true and good leaders for the
sake of their own country. Ever since, South Africa became a democratic country because their
people can now vote by their own decision and ideology of a true leader after all the knowledge
that was implied to them by schools and other theories that can help them to be more
knowledgeable about the voting process and political knowledge.

Teixeira said that “education, nonmanual occupations, and higher income &make it easier for a
citizen to vote, by increasing his or her ability to deal with the mechanics of the voting process”.
South African people are now more political literate and educated on how voting and elections
are going. They can now decide more accurately on how they can vote for the good of their own
country and lastly, people can no longer harm themselves and their country by electing officials
that will not help them after the due process of election in the said country. All countries all over
the world must like and teach their people more and enough to be political literate to decide for
what is good for their country and for themselves especially.
References

Carnegie Endowment for National Peace (2021).

https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/03/18/south-africa-when-strong-institutions-and-massive-
inequalities-collide-pub-84063

Larry Diamond, The Spirit of Democracy: The Struggle to Build Free Democracies Throughout
the World (New York: Times Books, 2008), 372. The data are for countries with populations
above 1 million

Larry Diamond, Ill Winds: Saving Democracy From Russian Rage, Chinese Ambition, and
American Complacency (New York: Penguin Press, 2019), 54.

Albert Hirschman and Michael Rothschild, “The Changing Tolerance for Income Inequality in
the Course of Economic Development,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 87, no. 4 (1973): 545.