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Democratic statecraft versus political legitimacy : The case of Botswana

Author

Listed:
  • Patrice Cailleba

    (Groupe ESC Pau)

  • Rekha A. Kumar

    (University of Botswana, Botswana)

Abstract

In Africa, Botswana is widely regarded as a frontrunner in democratic politics. But the local political system has been wanting in some aspects. If political legitimacy may be high in “the land of Tswanas”, in many respects political leaders have denied Botswana’s citizens a freedom to shape their political future. To understand the failure of parliamentary institutions in Botswana, we propose to study what Carl Schmitt termed “political decisionism”. Decisionism continues to be relevant to our understanding of the functioning of sovereign state in a country where the political spectrum mainly rests on ethnic and religious affiliations around a strong leader whose legitimacy goes beyond parliamentary criteria.

Suggested Citation

  • Patrice Cailleba & Rekha A. Kumar, 2008. "Democratic statecraft versus political legitimacy : The case of Botswana," Working Papers 1002, Groupe ESC Pau, Research Department, revised Jun 2008.
    • Handle: RePEc:pau:wpaper:1002
    as

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