Institutions, ethnicity, and political mobilization in South Africa

Post-apartheid South Africa, notable for a history of politicized ethnicity, a complicated network of ethnic groups and for an expectation that ethnic violence would follow the 1994 political transition, did not experience dramatic ethnic violence following democratization in 1994. The South African experience provides a rich example of successful democratization in a country that had most of the divisive elements that in other countries has resulted in ethnic polarization and subsequent violence.