Five leading political commentators record and measure the depth and degree of democracy in their area of specialisation, grading South Africa's performance to date. This book produces a profile of South Africa's democracy seven years after the 1994 founding election. The five areas of inquiry are: * Consensus on and participation in government - Steven Friedman * Selection of decision-makers - Sipho Maseko, * Popular control over decision-makers - Ebrahim Harvey * Protecting citizens' equality - Cathi Albertyn * Economic and social inequality - Bongani Khumalo Includes contributions by Michael Spicer of the Anglo American Corporation and Molefe Tsele of the South African Council of Churches. In the Balance incorporates Idasa's Democracy Index, a tool for assessing the state of South Africa's democracy, to be completed by readers.