Elections and Democracy in Botswana
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JOURNAL OF AFRICAN ELECTIONS JOURNAL OF JOURNAL OF AFRICAN ELECTIONS Special Issue: Elections and Democracy in Botswana Vol 5 No 2 Dec 2006 Vol Volume 5 Number 2 December 2006 VOLUME 5 NO 1 1 Journal of African Elections Special Issue: Elections and Democracy in Botswana Guest Editor David Sebudubudu ARTICLES BY David Sebudubudu Monageng Mogalakwe Mpho G Molomo Patrick Molutsi Onkemetse B Tshosa Mogopodi H Lekorwe Adam Mfundisi Tidimane Ntsabane and Chris Ntau Kaelo Molefhe and Lewis Dzimbiri Onalenna Doo Selolwane and Victor Shale Zein Kebonang and Wankie Rodrick Wankie Zitha Mokomane Monageng Mogalakwe and David Sebudubudu Volume 5 Number 2 December 2006 1 2 JOURNAL OF AFRICAN ELECTIONS Published by EISA 14 Park Road, Richmond Johannesburg South Africa P O Box 740 Auckland Park 2006 South Africa Tel: +27 011 482 5495 Fax: +27 011 482 6163 e-mail: [email protected] ©EISA 2006 ISSN: 1609-4700 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher Copy editor: Pat Tucker Printed by: Global Print, Johannesburg Cover photograph: Reproduced with the permission of the HAMILL GALLERY OF AFRICAN ART, BOSTON, MA, USA www.eisa.org.za VOLUME 5 NO 1 3 EDITORS Denis Kadima, Electoral Institute of Southern Africa, Johannesburg Khabele Matlosa, Electoral Institute of Southern Africa, Johannesburg EDITORIAL BOARD Tessy Bakary, Office of the Prime Minister, Abidjan, Côte di’Ivoire David Caroll, Democracy Program, The Carter Center, Atlanta Jørgen Elklit, Department of Political Science, University of Aarhus, Denmark Amanda Gouws, Department of Political Science, University of Stellenbosch Abdalla Hamdok, International Institute for Democracy Assistance, Pretoria Sean Jacobs, New York University, Brooklyn, NY Claude Kabemba, Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria Peter Kagwanja, International Crisis Group, Southern Africa Project, Pretoria Peter Katjavivi, Ambassador of Namibia to the European Union in Brussels Abdul Rahman Lamin, Department of International Relations, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg Tom Lodge, Department Politics and Public Administration, University of Limerick Robin Ludwig, UN Dialogue with the Global South, New York Robert Mattes, Department of Political Science, University of Cape Town Yvonne Muthien, Corporate Affairs, MTN South Africa Eghosa Osaghae, Igbinedion University, Okada, Nigeria David Pottie, The Carter Center, Atlanta Ben Reilly, Asia Pacific School of Economics & Government, The Australian National University, Canberra Lloyd Sachikonye, Institute of Development Studies, University of Zimbabwe, Harare Jeremy Seekings, Sociology Department, University of Cape Town Timothy Sisk, Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver, Colorado Gloria Somolekae, National Representative of the W K Kellogg Programme in Botswana and EISA Board member Roger Southall, Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria The Journal of African Elections is an interdisciplinary biannual publication of research and writing in the human sciences, which seeks to promote a scholarly understanding of developments and change in Africa. Responsibility for opinions expressed and for the accuracy of facts published in papers, research notes, review articles and book reviews rests solely with the individual authors or reviewers. Contributions are referred to specialist readers for consideration, but the Editor is responsible for the final selection of the contents of the Journal. Editorial correspondence, including manuscripts for submission and books for review, should be sent to: The Editor, Journal of African Elections EISA: P O Box 740 Auckland Park 2006, South Africa Business correspondence, including orders and remittances, subscription queries, advertisements, back numbers and offprints, should be addressed to: The Publisher, Journal of African Elections EISA: P O Box 740 Auckland Park 2006 South Africa 4 JOURNAL OF AFRICAN ELECTIONS CONTENTS Editorial David Sebudubudu ................................................................................................................................1 From Pre-Colony to Post-Colony: Continuities and Discontinuities in Political Power Relations and Governance in Botswana Monageng Mogalakwe ..........................................................................................................................5 Democracy and Botswana’s Electoral System Mpho G Molomo .................................................................................................................................21 Beyond the State: Botswana’s Democracy and the Global Perspective Patrick Molutsi.................................................................................................................................... 41 Elections and Parliamentary Oversight in Botswana Onkemetse B Tshosa ............................................................................................................................ 52 The Role and Status of the Independent Electoral Commission Mogopodi H Lekorwe ..........................................................................................................................62 Civic Participation and Voting Patterns in Botswana Adam Mfundisi ................................................................................................................................... 81 Youth and Politics in Botswana Tidimane Ntsabane and Chris Ntau ................................................................................................... 99 A Failure to Unite Means a Failure to Win: The Leadership Challenge for Botswana’s Opposition Kaelo Molefhe and Lewis Dzimbiri ................................................................................................... 114 Opposition Politics and the Challenges of Fragmentation in Botswana Onalenna Doo Selolwane and Victor Shale ......................................................................................122 Enhancing Intra-Party Democracy: The Case of the Botswana Democratic Party Zein Kebonang and Wankie Rodrick Wankie ....................................................................................141 Gender and Elections in Botswana Zitha Mokomane ...............................................................................................................................151 Election Observation and Monitoring in Botswana David Sebudubudu ............................................................................................................................165 Building Social Capital and Political Trust: Consolidating Democracy in Botswana Mpho G Molomo ...............................................................................................................................181 Trends In State-Civil Society Relations In Botswana Monageng Mogalakwe and David Sebudubudu ...............................................................................207 Review 40 Years of Democracy in Botswana 1965-2005 ...............................................................................225 Contents of Previous Issues ..........................................................................................................233 Notes for Contributors ...................................................................................................................242 VOLUME 5 NO 2 1 EDITORIAL On 30 September 2006 Botswana celebrated 40 years of independence. Since its first elections, in 1965, it has maintained a multiparty framework, making it the longest-running democracy in Africa; surviving in a hostile environment, especially in the 1970s and 1980s. The result is that the country is held up as a model for other countries to emulate. Although one-party dominance has been a central feature of politics in Botswana, opposition parties and civil society organisations are free to mobilise and participate in the political process and the country has shown significant levels of pluralist politics. However, these organisations and structures (such as political parties, civil society, and, more importantly, Parliament), which are expected to work as checks and balances in a democracy, have remained weak thus far in relation to the executive. In this way the emergence of new democracies in the Southern African region and beyond calls for regular assessment of the quality of Botswana’s democracy. This is particularly important as the country is yet to experience a turnover of government. Moreover, the country faces ‘structural violence’, with poverty, unemployment and severe inequalities remaining some of the key challenges. This special issue of the Journal of African Elections is an attempt to reassess the quality of Botswana’s democracy, a democracy that is limited by a reluctance to introduce substantial political reforms such as party funding and proportional representation, which have been embraced in countries such as Namibia and South Africa; although one-party dominance is also a key feature in those countries. It is our hope that those who are interested in African politics, particularly those of Botswana, will find the papers contained in this special issue useful. The paper by Monageng Mogalakwe provides a context within which to understand contemporary Botswanan politics and democracy. The paper notes that although Botswana has been praised as a shining example of liberal democracy,