From 1948 until April 26, 1994, the National Party, which was largely White, ruled South Africa. One of the main political principles publicized by the National Party was the policy of apartheid, literally translated as separateness. This meant that the South African government grouped the people of South Africa into four racial groups, namely Blacks, Coloreds (meaning mixed race), Indians, and Whites. Initially, the aim of apartheid was to maintain white domination while extending racial separ

A "better" electoral system for South Africa is one that incorporates elements of both the present PR system and a system that allows for representation of constituencies. It must also be a system that is acceptable to the leaders of all major political parties and one that sustains high voter turnout at future elections.

The elections are held on the basis of proportional representation or PR. There are no electoral districts in PR systems, but most countries that use PR do not allocate seats to political parties solely on the basis of each party's share of the national vote. In the case of South Africa, and in more than twenty other countries, a "two tier" method is used. Of the four hundred seats in the National Assembly, two hundred are allocated to parties on the basis of their proportions of the total national vote, and two hundred are allocated on the basis of their proportions of the vote in each of South Africa's nine provinces. This two-tier method was used to elect the first multi-racial National Assembly in 1994 and the second in 1999. However, the South African constitution does not specify what form of electoral system should be used for the next parliamentary elections other than to state, in section 46(1) that the system "results, in general, in proportional representation."

Political parties were able to access considerably more public funding in 1994, than in previous years. In general, there are three sources of funding for political parties. The parties rely on private contributions, such as individual membership fees, corporate contributions, and the voluntary efforts on the part of members. On top of private contributions, parties rely on foreign funding as well as state funding. According to Section 236 of the 1996 constitution, "to enhance multi-party democracy, national legislation must provide for the funding of political parties participation in national and provincial legislatures on an equitable and proportional basis."

The majority of the members in the National Assembly belong to the African National Congress (ANC), The National Party (NP), and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP).

Although the choice of PR eased South Africa's transition to democracy, PR may not be the most appropriate electoral system to assure the consolidation of democracy. Many citizens and political leaders, including members of the governing ANC party, believe the current system should be modified. Since members of the National Assembly are not elected from electoral districts, it is impossible for the residents of a given geographic area or community to hold individual legislators accountable for their performance o

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Approximate Word count = 1795
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)