South Africa's Crisis of Constitutional Democracy: Can the U.S. Constitution Help?

One of the most dramatic developments of the final decades of the 20th century is the unraveling of apartheid in the Republic of South Africa. The question that the world asks is: Will this evolution result in the first true liberal democracy in sub-Saharan Africa-one founded on self-government and full and equal citizenship for all?

How can the legacy of apartheid be undone while the rights of all are kept secure? How can the promise of equal economic opportunity be fulfilled as vast economic inequalities are abolished?

This book is designed to help bring about the desired transition to liberal democracy in South Africa, particularly as the deliberations about a permanent constitution get under way. Essays apply lessons from American history to the constitutional development of South Africa.