The Evolution Of Modern Botswana

Economic and social development, political development, Botswana - history, independence, local governments, land tenure, water supply, livestock, rural development, political system, political partys, foreign policy, Africa south of Sahara, regional cooperation trends. References, statistical tables.

Essay from the year 2007 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: Africa, grade: 78, Stellenbosch Universitiy, course: Comparative Political Economy, language: English, abstract: Botswana is described as the "African miracle" (Samatar, 1999), as an "exception" (Good, 1992), or as "a rare example of an African state that used its bonanza of mineral riches wisely" (Meredith, 2006:285). However, critique verbalized by Taylor (2003) and Good (1992) has shown that Botswana's economic history is not a pure success story; even it illustrates a positive example of African development compared to almost all the other African countries. To analyze Botswana's economic history I will date back to the beginning of the 1900s. At this time, Botswana's eight main chiefdoms dominated regional African trade. The indigenous elite welcomed trade with European settlers who arrived in this period. While Botswana's neighbor countries experienced the process of incorporation into the modern world-economy already, Botswana started to shift into the external arena of the global economy. This essay will show how Botswana is and has incorporated into the modern worldeconomy referred to Immanuel Wallerstein's modern world-system theory. I will start with an overview about Botswana's actual trade situation to be able to locate the country within the global division of labor. Afterwards the paper analyses the history of Botswana's shift into the external arena of the modern world-system followed by its incorporation. Furthermore, I will illustrate Botswana's economic development since the incorporation. A second part of Botswana's history deals with the economy-based class structure and how it shaped the political history since Botswana achieved political independence in 1966. I will argue that the class structure, as already indicated, has to be understood in the context of pre-colonial and colonial development. After all, I will point out what important contemporary political-

Together with Mauritius, Botswana is often categorized as one of two growth miracles in sub-Saharan Africa. Due to its spectacular long-run economic performance and impressive social development, it has been termed both an economic success story and a developmental state. While there is uniqueness in the Botswana experience, several aspects of the country’s opportunities and challenges are of a more general nature. Throughout its history, Botswana has been both blessed and hindered by its natural resource abundance and dependency, which have influenced growth periods, opportunities for economic diversification, strategies for sustainable economic and social development, and the distribution of incomes and opportunities. Through a political economy framework, Hillbom and Bolt provide an updated understanding of an African success story, covering the period from the mid-19th century, when the Tswana groups settled, to the present day. Understanding the interaction over time between geography and factor endowments on the one hand, and the development of economic and political institutions on the other, offers principle lessons from Botswana’s experience to other natural resource rich developing countries.

Economic and social development, political development, Botswana - history, independence, local governments, land tenure, water supply, livestock, rural development, political system, political partys, foreign policy, Africa south of Sahara, regional cooperation trends. References, statistical tables.

The role played by Botswana in various southern African liberation struggles has previously been neglected in historical studies. The country's politics of support and mobilisation early on in Namibia's struggle for independence from South Africa proved crucial for the formative period of both nation states. Botswana's difficult and contradictory position as neighbour of the South African apartheid state and colonial power in Namibia are carefully dealt with, as are the challenges faced by the fragile Namibian refugee networks and liberation movements, SWANU and SWAPO, operating in Botswana for decades. 'The Inevitable Pipeline into Exile' deals with a crucial phase of nationalism and transnational politics during the period of southern African decolonisation at the height of South Africa's diplomatic and military aggression throughout the region.

This title was first published in 2000. A comprehensive comparison of voting patterns in seven countries of Southern Africa. The modern democratic electoral histories of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe are placed within the contexts of their pre-colonial and colonial polities. The extent to which urbanization and the regional distribution of language, ethnicity and race impacts on the electoral geography of the sub-continent is demonstrated statistically and cartographically. The analysis is complemented by anecdotal evidence gathered during personal interviews and discussions with voters, politicians, government officials and academics.

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.

6. The Contest for Hegemony