Review
 Tom Lodge (1999) Consolidating Democracy: South
                   Africa ’s secondpopularelection. Johannesburg:
                   ElectoralInstitute ofSouth Africa & University
                   of the Witwatersrand Press.
 Tom Lodge (1999) South African Politics Since 1994. Cape
                   Town: David Philip.
 Laurence Piper
 T have always found Tom Lodge’s work thoroughly researched, accessibly
written, evenhanded and well-informed by contemporary debates, and
these two booksdo not disappoint. They are exemplars ofmaturescholarship.
Indeed, Consolidating Democracyis the best work I’ve seen on the 1999
election, and similarly, South African Politics Since 1994, addresses an
important gap in political science scholarship. Read together they are
tremendously empowering for both the student and the serious scholar as
they make accessible the key facts, issues, trends and debates pertinentto
almost all aspects of South African politics. Indeed, had Lodge engaged
more with the debatesaround elite and neo-liberal trends in governance,
they would be sufficient (and not just necessary) reading.
    Consolidating Democracy stands fore-square in the tradition of recent
workon elections in South Africa. It is a carefully crafted work, attractive
in form and impressive in content, and has the particular advantage ofbeing
more consistent in methodology, style and theme than multi-authored
rivals such as Reynolds (1999) Election 99 South Africa. Those new to
South African politics will especially appreciate the glossary, and all
readers will enjoy the many tables, diagrams and photographs that
differentiate each clearly and cleanly laid-out chapter.
    In respect of content there is very little really new in Consolidating
Democracy,butthere is no better survey text available. Lodge is supreme
at integrating the variousparts of current research into a tidy, conceptually
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Laurence Piper
tight and accessible whole. Thus, there is no better place to start if one
wants to access current workonthe electoral system, the identity, behaviour
and motivations of voters, party strategies and campaigning, and the
election results. Lodge also has the habit of identifying an issue of
emerging importance in his works, and in this case he focuses on the
growing importance of the ACDPandreligion in politics more generally.
   As implied by the title, Consolidating Democracy marries a well-
rounded and thorough empiricism to an analytical concern with democratic
consolidation more broadly, and Lodge makesa pretty convincing argument
for the health of South Africa’s democracy. However, he does notreally
explore what is meant by democracy, and thus misses an opportunity to
engage with the debates round the increasingly elite character of South
African politics. This is somewhat surprising given that Lodge (1999)
himself has drawn attention to precisely these trends in his excellent
analysis of the contrasting processes by which the RDP and GEAR
emerged. Greater comparative and/or theoretical backing would have
improvedhis argument.
   A similar assessment applies to South African Politics Since 1994. As
someonewhoteaches South Africanpolitics, I found this an exciting text,
as it is the only up-to-date, general survey of South African politics and
there is an obvious gap in the market for such a work. Given Lodge’s
empirical thoroughness, ability to integrate, analytical keenness and clear
style there is no better candidate for this task.
   Howeverthis book doesnotfulfil its potential. On the wholeit seemsto
have been taken less seriously than Consolidating Democracy. It is less
well presented, and other than a map atthe beginning, misses the opportunity
of infusing the page with tables, diagrams, imagesandthe like. Moreover,
while the content is very good, (indeed the chapters on ‘Who rules South
Africa’, the civic movement, the African renaissance and Thabo Mbeki are
secondto none), it is partial and less finely honed. For instance, there was
nothing on the functioning of, and trends in, national government and
policy-making, arguably the central aspect of governance since 1994. Nor
was there substantial discussion of GEAR andits implications, again
remarkable given Lodge’s own work on this and the massive debate on the
advent of neo-liberalism in South African politics.
   Indeed,the failure to engage with the debate over neo-liberalism and the
comparative and international dimensionsthat this throws up, meansthat
Lodge omits a dynamic central to contemporary South Africanpolitics. If


                                                                         Review
the politics of race continues at party level in the rivalry between the ANC
and the DP, thenclass politics is happening within the ANCandwithin the
alliance, and Lodge needsto explore this more. In my view,it is only when
viewed through both the prismsofthe politics of race and ofclass that the
tensions in government policy and the discourse make sense.
   Nevertheless, while these are significant omissions, South African
Politics Since 1994 is still the best survey text on contemporary South
Africa politics, both more empirically-grounded, analytically consistent
and insightful than, for example, Adam, Van Zyl Slabbert and Moodley’s
Comrades in Business (1997).
References
Adam, H, F van Zyl Slabbert and K Moodley (1997) Comrades in Business. Cape
    Town: Tafelberg.
Lodge, T (1999) ‘Policy processes within the African National Congress and the
    Tripartite Alliance’, Politikon 26(1).
Reynolds, A (ed) (1999) Election '99 South Africa: from Mandela to Mbeki. Cape
    Town and London: David Philip and James Currey.
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