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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 November 2008
During the last four decades, few attempts to establish democracy have succeeded. Many new states in the 1950s and 1960s adopted democratic structures as they decolonised but soon shifted to civilian or military dictatorships. As the decade of the 1990s begins, there is a world-wide demand for democracy because of the poor record of all forms of authoritarian régimes.
1 For the proceedings of the five-day symposium that was almost entirely funded by the Friedrich–Ebert Stiftung, see Holm, John D. and Molutsi, Patrick P. (eds.), Democracy in Botswana (Gaborone and Athens, Ohio, 1989).Google Scholar
2 See, particularly, ‘The Bureaucracy and Democracy in Botswana’ by Mpho G. Molomo, and ‘The Ruling Class and Democracy in Botswana’ by Patrick P. Molutsi, in ibid. pp. 237–44 and 103–16.
3 See, for instance, studies by Picard, Louis A., ‘Bureaucrats, Cattle and the Public Policy: land tenure changes in Botswana’, in Comparative Political Studies (Beverly Hills), 13, 3, 10 1980, pp. 313–56,Google Scholar and The Politics of Development in Botswana: a model for success? (Boulder and London, 1987);Google Scholar and Parson, Jack, ‘Cattle, Class and the State in Rural Botswana’, in Journal of Southern African Studies (Oxford), 7, 2, 04 1981, pp. 236–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4 This point is made by various contributors to Democracy in Botswana, especially Patrick P. Molutsi. Also, see Holm, John D. and Somolekae, Gloriah, ‘Some Tentative Conclusions for the Democracy Project’, Centre for African Studies, University of Edinburgh, Botswana – Education, Politics, and Culture (Edinburgh, 12 1988).Google Scholar
5 This is not to say that we concluded that politicians were very effective at seeking out local opinion. See, for instance, Lekorwe, Mogopodi, ‘The Kgotla and the Freedom Square: one-way or two-way communication?’, in Democracy in Botswana, pp. 212–15.Google Scholar
6 Zaffiro, James J., ‘The Press and Political Opposition in an African Democracy: the case of Botswana’, in Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics (London), 27, 1, 03 1989, pp. 51–73.Google Scholar
7 References have been made in a number of publications to the presentations and debates which took place at the August 1988 symposium. For example, the article on ‘How the BDP Cheats’, in the B.N.F. newspaper Pua Phaa! (Gaborone), August 1989, quoted extensively from D.R.P. papers by Gloriah Somolekae, ‘Do Batswana Think and Act as Democrats?’, Holm, John D., ‘Elections and Democracy in Botswana’, and Mpho G. Molomo, ‘The Bureaucracy and Democracy in Botswana’, in Democracy in Botsuana, pp. 75–88, 189–202, and 237–44.Google Scholar
8 See the summaries of symposium discussions at the end of each section in Democracy in Botswana.
9 There may be some cheating, and possibly on both the Government and Opposition sides, but it almost certainly has minimal impact on the outcome.
10 The Democracy Research Project has incurred an expenditure in excess of U.S. $200,000 since its inception in 1987. The Co-ordinators wish to express their appreciation for the financial assistance received from the Social Science Research Council of New York, the Swedish International Development Agency, the Friedrich–Ebert Stiftung, the Human Rights Fund of the U.S. State Department, the British Council, the U.S. Information Agency, the University of Botswana, the Cleveland State University, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, and the Swedish Agency for Research and Co-operation.
11 In the last election, the B.D.P. increased its majority of parliamentary seats by two to a total of 31 out of 34.
12 Cf. Molutsi, Patrick P. and Holm, John D., ‘Developing Democracy when Civil Society is Weak: the case of Botswana’, in African Affairs (London), 89, 356, 07 1990, pp. 323–40.Google Scholar
