On 10 May 1994, Nelson Mandela was sworn in as President of the Republic of South Africa. On that day, the new Government of National Unity began to dismantle the policies of apartheid and recognize citizen's rights for 85% of the country's population. Seemingly overnight, South Africa grew from 6 million to 40 million.

The South Africa-Canada Program on Governance (PoG) was born in anticipation of this historic transition. It was conceived during Nelson Mandela's 1992 visit to Canada, when he asked the Canadian government to assist the people of South Africa in their preparations for democracy. In 1993, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and the democratic movement of South Africa jointly launched the PoG. Its mission today is the same as it was then: to help South Africa build the capacity to govern itself.

Supporting Democracy provides a new window through which to view the transition to democracy in South Africa. It describes the approaches used by the PoG to assist its South African partners, as well as the activities the program has designed and developed. It presents the why, what, and how of a governance program and will appeal to academics, policymakers, bureaucrats, researchers, and other professionals in political sciences, development studies, policy studies, administration, and social policy.