Pitfalls of parliamentary democracy in Botswana

'Botswanas Mehrparteiendemokratie wurde von Experten (im In- und Ausland) oftmals als glänzendes Beispiel für eine funktionierende Demokratie in Afrika dargestellt, und doch zeigen sich eine Reihe Fallstricke, wenn man diese afrikanische Modelldemokratie genauer untersucht. Auch wenn die Autoren würdigen, was in Botswana bisher erreicht wurde, weichen sie von dem allgemeinen Trend ab, Botswanas Demokratie zu romantisieren. Sie bemühen sich, die entscheidenden Fallstricke des politischen Systems zu identifizieren, und legen dar, dass noch einiges getan werden muss, um die Qualität der Regierungsführung in Botswana zu verbessern. Angesichts der Bedeutung von guter Regierungsführung und im Lichte der neu entstehenden parlamentarischen Demokratien in Afrika und anderswo müsse Botswanas Demokratie neu eingeschätzt werden. Ein demokratisches System braucht tief verankerte, funktionierende Kontrollmechanismen, doch im Fall Botswana sind genau diese ineffizient.' (Autorenreferat)'Botswana's multiparty democracy has been portrayed by various scholars (within and beyond) as a shining example of a living democracy in Africa, yet it has a number of pitfalls that make one to interrogate this African model of a democracy. Although this article appreciates what Botswana has achieved so far, it seeks to deviate from the general trend that romanticizes Botswana's democracy. It attempts to identify some of the major pitfalls Botswana's democracy is faced with. It argues that a lot remains to be done to improve the quality of Botswana's governance. Its democracy needs to be reassessed in the light of the need for good governance and emerging parliamentary democracies in Africa and beyond. This is because democracy has more meaning when there are checks and balances in place, but in Botswana these are ineffective.' (author's abstract)

Governance of Land and Natural Resource for Sustainable Development in Botswana: Possible Lessons for the Agricultural and Tourism Sectors

Realizing sustainable development is a major challenge for most African countries. Economic growth in most African countries is largely centered on the extraction of natural resources, particularly minerals. Rather than facilitate development, the extraction of natural resources in most countries, has been a source of adverse outcomes. That is, natural resources led to ‘the resource curse’, partly because of bad governance and leadership. Through governance and leadership, Botswana emerged differently. The country transformed itself to a middle income status through the prudent utilization and management of mineral (non-renewable) resources; making Botswana one of the few resource rich countries that have so far avoided the blight of the ‘the resource curse’. Yet, the sole reliance on one non-renewable resource is risky as evidenced by the recent global financial crisis. Sustainable development necessitates greater emphasis on renewable resources whose utilization and management require a different strategy to drive development forward. The paper identifies governance and leadership amongst the central tenets to Botswana’s development success story. It argues that, for the last four decades its governance and leadership strategy served the country well, given the context of the time. Going forward, an enhanced governance and leadership strategy is necessary to successfully exploit and manage the country’s resources for the benefit of all. To this extent, the paper concludes that other African countries need to consider and review their governance structures in order to realize sustainable development

Combatting corruption in Southern Africa : an examination of anti-corruption agencies in Botswana, South Africa and Namibia

This thesis examines the work of anti-corruption agencies in Botswana, South Africa and Namibia. It argues that these agencies have produced disappointing results in terms of investigating and prosecuting high-level corruption. It suggests five main reasons for this failure. First, anti-corruption agencies have suffered from a lack of resources resulting from lack of political support and the general problem of economic underdevelopment. Second, there is a lack of political will' to prosecute high-level corruption. Third, even if there was such a will, anticorruption agencies, by their very. nature, are unable to affect the underlying political pressures which promote corruption and, therefore, their successes need to be limited to individual cases. Fourth, the model on which such agencies have been based is inappropriate to the African setting and assumes conditions that cannot be replicated in the subcontinent. And finally, these factors suggest that the purpose of anti-corruption agencies in Africa might possibly have more to do with reassuring investors and aid donors in an age of globalisation. than with actually attacking high-level corruption, an activity that would, after all, undermine the fragile political elites of these countries. The dissertation first evaluates the destructive character of corruption in Africa and attempts to control it through anti-corruption reform. It then proceeds to an analysis of the problem, and the agencies set up to deal with it, in each of the three country cases. The dissertation concludes with a comparison of the effectiveness of the anti-corruption agencies in the three countries

The Elite as a Critical Factor in National Development : The case of Botswana

The Discussion Paper provides insightful explanations for Botswana’s emergence as one of Africa’s developmental success stories. It underscores the role of the ruling elite coalition in shaping the particular kind of politics, inclusive policies, consensus, partnerships and vision that have contributed to the emergence of Botswana as a democratic developmental state. This is an important paper that should be read by all those keen to understand how Botswana has managed to avoid the ‘natural resource curse’ and stand out as a model of democratic stability and sustained economic growth in Africa