South Africa's first universal franchise election in April 1994 attracted unprecedented international attention. Viewed as one further triumph in the global spread of democracy, the transition was widely hailed as miraculous. In this book Anthony Butler examines South African experiences to cast doubt on the celebratory attitude to democracy propagated by its champions. Butler argues that democracy can also have a malign role in the modern state. He attacks the myth that democracy ended apartheid, and shows that democratic practices themselves contributed to its evils. The author explores weaknesses in political science as a discipline, and ends with an investigation of the human significance of the modern election. This book will be essential reading for specialists in South Africa and will appeal to political theorists, students of comparative politics and historians.