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2009 Reprint,updated,printed ""on demand"" - Botswana Foreign Policy and Government Guide ... Read more

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Is Botswana still 'an African miracle'? Thanks to diamonds the country's growth rate was the highest in the world into the 1990s, and regular parliamentary elections judged free on polling day have been held since 1965. However a duopoly of presidentialism and ruling party preponderance has stimulated arrogance, complacency and corruption among the country's rulers. What is 'perpetual democracy'? The ruling BDP is kept in perpetual power by the first-past-the post election system. The President in Botswana is empowered to do whatever he pleases. President Mogae has amended the constitution to ensure the automatic succession of the Vice-President General Ian Khama, the son of Seretse and Ruth Khama. A new Directorate of Intelligence Services provides closer control of power. Why are the Khoisan confined to 'a gulag of special settlements'? The expulsion of the San from Central Kalahari Game Reserve was relentlessly enforced in 1997 and 2002. A multi-cultural coalition asserts that the government is implementing 'a philosophy of cultural genocide on the non-Tswana tribes'. How can the gift of diamonds be turned to reform? Professor Good asserts the need to strengthen and democratise the electoral and voting systems. He sees diversification as essential to reduce the dependency on diamonds. He urges the use of mineral wealth to reduce the gap between rich and poor; half of the population are at present in poverty in a rich country. ... Read more

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While most of Africa has been described as a political and economic disaster zone, Botswana stands out as a democracy that has achieved rapid economic growth for more than three decades. Clark Leith traces the evolution of Botswana's economic policies and democratic political systems and the forces that have shaped them since the country achieved independence in 1966. Leith shows that other African nations endowed with resources failed to stimulate growth but Botswana prospered because of a democratic political system and economic interests that were anchored in tradition, tempered by leadership, and shaped by growing institutions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Thorough, well researched, and boring
This book is highly recommended for economic and political science doctoral students.It is very well researched and a real achievement in terms of analyzing Botswana's economic success.But for the average person fascinated and curious about Africa's greatest success story, this book is extremely boring.Don't buy this unless you are either a serious post-graduate student or the Ambien you're taking is starting to become ineffective. ... Read more

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A long-time specialist on Southern African affairs explores the history of conflict and cooperation--showing how a landlocked small state reduced its dependency upon its neighbors in Southern Africa. Drawing upon first-hand information and primary sources, this analysis of low-high politics from colonial days and independence to the present, defines how political leaders and the citizenry made Bostwana one of the few stable democracies in Africa--one that has improved its economy and international standing over the last quarter century. Students, scholars, and policymakers concerned with world politics, international political economy, and African studies will find this study important for understanding the foreign policy options and policies of small and weak states today in Africa and in the international arena. ... Read more

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Pauline E. Peters shows how Africa's current grazing-land policy, like the water-development policies of the 1930s, is part of a historical process through which resources are allocated, wealth created or destroyed, and some interests promoted at the cost of others. At the heart of the dividing of the common range are struggles over meanings, cultural contestations over the definitions of property, and the priority of rights.

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This work examines Botswana's acclaimed liberal democracy in order to explore the system of labour repression that represents the dark side of Botswana's constitutional framework of individual rights and democratic freedoms. In Botswana the collective rights and freedoms of trade unions, though formally recognized, are in fact severely restricted. This work argues that workers and their unions need to develop a long term strategy to increase their social weight in relation to the state and capital, and the strategic option recommended is social movement unionism. It is argued that because of the liberal democratic form of Botswana capitalism, social movement unionism, rather than overt political unionism has a better chance of success as it will not split the ranks of the workers along party lines. ... Read more

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Chapters: List of Colonial Heads of Botswana, List of Heads of State of Botswana, National Assembly of Botswana, Botswana Meat Commission, List of Heads of Government of Botswana, House of Chiefs of Botswana, Parliament of Botswana, Vice-President of Botswana, Bank of Botswana, Citizens Entrepreneurial Development Association. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 30. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: (Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office) For continuation after independence see: Heads of State of Botswana ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=861146 ... Read more

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Chapters: List of Heads of State of Botswana, List of Heads of Government of Botswana, International Rankings of Botswana, List of Chairpersons of the House of Chiefs of Botswana, Vice-President of Botswana, List of Speakers of the National Assembly of Botswana, Botswana Passport. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 26. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt:Politics of Botswana takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Botswana is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Parliament of Botswana. Since independence the party system is dominated by the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), which has never lost power since independence. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Botswana is formally a multiparty constitutional democracy. Each of the elections since independence in September 1966 has been freely and fairly contested and has been held on schedule. Botswana is the only nation in mainland Africa to have held free and fair elections since independence. The country's small white minority and other minorities participate freely in the political process. There are two main rival parties and a number of smaller parties. Some argue that the openness of the country's political system has been a significant factor in Botswana's stability and economic growth. General elections are held at least every 5 years. The National Assembly has 57 elected and 4 appointed members ; it is expanded following each census (every 10 years). Parliament elects the state president. The advisory House of Chiefs represents the eight principal subgroups of the Batswana people, and four other me...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=3615 ... Read more

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After gaining independence from Britain in 1966,Botswana embarked upon efforts to tackle issues ofunderdevelopment through national developmentplanning. Although development planning iscentralized, somefiscal authority has been devolved to sub-nationalgovernments. Amongst other objectives,decentralization is meant to increase popularparticipation in development planning and improvethe performance of sub-national governments. Giventhe amount of resources, fiscal and otherwise, thatare being expended on decentralization, it isappropriate to ask, "does fiscal decentralizationenhance popular participation and the performance oflocal government?" In other words, is the policyhaving the desired effect on critical outcomes?Employing a case study method and triangulating datacollection methods, this book concludes thatdecentralization led to significant changes inpopular participation and local governmentperformance. However, serious challenges remain thatderogate from the success of fiscaldecentralization. Since these challenges arepathologies rather than essentials ofdecentralization, they are largely correctable. ... Read more

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Are self-interested elites the curse of liberal democracy in Africa? Is there hope against the politics of the belly, kleptocracies, vampire states, failed states, and Afro-pessimism? In Reasonable Radicals and Citizenship in Botswana, Richard Werbner examines a rare breed of powerful political elites who are not tyrants, torturers, or thieves. Werbner's focus is on the Kalanga, a minority ethnic group that has served Botswana in business and government since independence. Kalanga elites have expanded public services, advocated causes for the public good, founded organizations to build the public sphere and civil society, and forged partnerships and alliances with other ethnic groups in Botswana. Gathering evidence from presidential commissions, land tribunals, landmark court cases, and his lifetime relationship with key Kalanga elites, Werbner shows how a critical press, cosmopolitanism, entrepreneurship, accountability, and the values of patriarchy and elderhood make for an open society with strong, capable government. Werbner's work provides a refreshing alternative to those who envision no future for Africa beyond persistent agony and lack of development.

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At independence in 1966 Botswana was one of the world's poorest countries: devastated by drought, dependent on Britain for half the cost of the current budget, with no capital city and only a few miles of tarred road, and only 80 students in the fifth year of secondary school. In the next twenty years Botswana had the fastest rate of economic growth of any country in the world. That was partly due to the discovery of several mines which were large in relation to the economy. This book analyses the management of mineral wealth, the extent to which economic policy also contributed to growth, and how rapid growth affected the people of Botswana, rural and urban, rich and poor. ... Read more

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Cloth Edition. An African Miracle shows how an African state and its people used their resources to remain free from the dictates of racist South Africa, achieving a high rate of economic growth while maintaining a solid commitment to democracy. ... Read more