When you hear people talk in such disparaging tones, that everything is broken, that nothing is possible, you need to ask yourself, is that right? When you look around, the answer is no. There are these examples where things do go right, where people work together and create a neighborhood or a community for themselves in which they can be prosperous and build better lives. And that's really what the democratic project is all about.Evan LiebermanA full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.Evan Lieberman is a Professor of Political Science and Contemporary Africa at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Director of the MIT Global Diversity Lab, and the faculty director of the MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI). He is the coauthor with Rorisang Lekalake of the recent article "South Africa's Resilient Democracy" in the Journal of Democracy and author of the forthcoming book Until We Have Won Our Liberty: South Africa after Apartheid.Key HighlightsWhy is Evan Lieberman optimistic about democracy in South AfricaRole of Nelson Mandela on South Africa's democracyImportance of South Africa for democracy in the worldAccount of the housing community EthembalethuWhat the 2019 election says about democracy in South AfricaKey LinksUntil We Have Won Our Liberty: South Africa after Apartheid by Evan Lieberman"South Africa’s Resilient Democracy" by Evan Lieberman and Rorisang Lekalake in Journal of DemocracyLearn more about Evan Lieberman at www.evanlieberman.orgFollow Evan Lieberman on Twitter @evliebDemocracy in Hard Places edited by Scott Mainwaring and Tarek MasoudAdditional InformationDemocracy Paradox PodcastMore shows from The Democracy Group Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.