Elections in South Africa take place on national, provincial, and local levels. South Africa is a multi-party democracy with the African National Congress in power with a significant majority since 1994. Although South Africa's democracy is rated as flawed in the Democracy Index survey conducted by the Economist, its score for electoral process is the same as that of the United States and Japan. A system of proportional representation, incorporating party lists, is in place which makes it possible for small parties to achieve representation in parliament.
The national Parliament is bicameral. The National Assembly consists of 400 members, elected directly by the people for a five-year term. The National Council of Provinces consists of 90 members; each provincial legislature elects 10 members in proportion to the party makeup of the provincial legislature. The provincial legislatures are unicameral and vary in size from 30 to 80 members; they are elected directly by the people every five years. By convention the elections of the National Assembly and the provincial legislatures are held simultaneously. Municipalities are governed by municipal councils which are elected by mixed member proportional representation every five years, with a nationwide municipal election occurring two years after a national and provincial election.
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