In permanent opposition: Botswana's other political parties

Abstract

Political opposition parties are considered crucial to the nurturing, enhancing and consolidating of democracy in every political system. Indeed, their existence is proof of political tolerance, competitive party elections, the provision of choices to the voting public and the possibility of alternation in power. However, the political opposition on the African continent is generally weak, and particularly so in Botswana, resulting in the predominance of the ruling party in political affairs. This article analyses the weaknesses of Botswana's opposition parties by tracing their historical evolution, characteristics, electoral base, and performance against the background of the political and electoral system in Botswana and the strength of the ruling party itself. It concludes that future prospects for the opposition to make greater inroads into the Botswana Democratic Party's support are small because of the fragmented nature of the opposition itself and the relative satisfaction of citizens with the current government's performance.

Predicting Level of Development for Different Countries

“…As in case of Botswana, an African country, was one of the poorest country when it obtain independence in 1966. But by adopting the good governance Botswana has turn into the high middle income country in 2000s from the least developed country in 1960s (Sebudubudu, 2010). Botswana offers lessons to other least developed and developing countries that by enhancing the governance, wellbeing of human and development can be achieved.…”

“…The word development is a dynamic process and verity of definitions on development of a country now exists. Because every discipline that has studied development of country has different opinions and definitions (UN, 2003;Uddin & Joya, 2007;Ngowi, 2009;Sebudubudu, 2010;Nielsen, 2011). Ever since different disciplines consider different indicators to measure development, so there is substantial diversity between the definitions of development described by different institutions and organizations.…”

“…Because long term developmental outcomes basically can be establish through good governance and it is paramount in promoting higher living standards everywhere. This is a substantial effect that has been examined by many authors like Kaufmann and Kraay (2002), Sebudubudu (2010) and Pradhan and Sanyal (2011). Recently good governance has become conditional for the disbursement of development assistance to less developed nations because fundamental donors and international financial organizations are even more considering the reforms of good governance, for aid and loans, guaranteed (Santiso, 2001;Sharma, 2007).…”

Elections in Botswana: A Ritual Enterprise?

“…Opposition parties in Botswana are unable to offer a credible challenge to the ruling BDP. Sebudubudu and Osei-Hwedie [18] correctly assert that the 'existence of political opposition is a good indicator of the degree of political tolerance in a country and paves the way for peaceful competition among political parties for the people's vote and government power' (p85). Political opposition in Botswana has, however, not been able to play the role ascribed to opposition political parties above.…”

“…According to Good [22], such acts of manipulation undoubtedly weaken the opposition but are not atypical of liberalism. Sebudubudu and Osei-Hwedie [18] contend that the weakness of the opposition in Botswana can also be explained in part to their being prone to factionalism and fragmentation. They maintain that this factionalism and fragmentation greatly undermines the opposition's internal unity, public image and their ability to mobilize electoral support.…”