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IDASA’S DEMOCRACY INDEX SECTION ONE PARTICIPATION AND DEMOCRACY BY SEGAMETSI OREEDITSE MOATLHAPING & KETLHOMILWE MOLETSANE This section addresses participation and democracy in Botswana. In an effort to unravel the relationship between the two, it focuses on five elements: nationhood; participation and involvement; government legitimacy; citizenship obligations and duties; and tolerance. Botswana has a long history of democracy and of indigenous forums that promote consultation . However, it is evident that work needs to be done to strengthen participatory democracy in the country. If ‘participation’ is defined in terms of the notion that ‘through participation, the public are enabled to determine and control the allocation of development resources, not merely influence its direction’ (Ambert 2000), then direct citizen participation is imperative for the consolidation of democracy and the establishment of sustainable development trajectories. It is vital for Botswana to promote and reinforce platforms that enhance citizens’ active engagement with the understanding that the success or failure of the government is their responsibility. In this context, therefore, the emphasis on participation and democracy in this chapter relates to processes that promote bottom-up approaches SECTION ONE: PARTICIPATION AND DEMOCRACY 25 to development. ‘Participation’ denotes the process of empowering citizens to develop intrinsic initiatives for self-reliant mobilisation, responsibility and control over how resources are used. In this way, citizens take collective action that improves their livelihoods and shun being passive recipients of resources allocated in a top-down fashion. Botswana is, in traditional terms, a ‘representative democracy’. As a result, the practice of public involvement in the democratisation processes over the years seems to have been based on a ‘weak interpretation’ of participation. According to De Beer (2000), a weak interpretation of participation equates public participation to simply involving people through co-option, placation, consultation and information, while not necessarily empowering them to participate in their own development meaningfully. Notwithstanding this contention, Botswana’s performance in governance and democracy is considered better than that of most of Africa. The country is politically and socially stable, with a predictable institutional, policy and legal environment. By all the governance indicators , Botswana has done exceptionally well in issues of political stability, government effectiveness , the rule of law and control of corruption. Since 2007, however, Botswana’s standing on some principles of good governance has been declining or stagnant. For example, studies carried out by the World Bank Institute, World Economic Forum and International Budget Partnership reveal that some of Botswana’s governance indicators are declining. Specifically, the Open Budget Index indicates that Botswana’s performance in budget transparency dropped from 66% in 2007 to 51% in 2010 (BIDPA 2010). The country’s weakening on this Index implies that citizens’ strategic participation in decisions that affect their quality of life in Botswana is not fully open and dialogic. In addition, the Botswana Local Governance Barometer agrees that ‘most community members have little knowledge and ability to comprehend technical budgeting issues’ (BOCONGO et al. 2008:11) and, as such, feel marginalised in the budgeting process. In time, this might impact negatively on the capacity of Botswana to sustain good governance and democratic principles. Additionally, the 2007 edition of The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Index of Democracy scores Botswana very low in regard to the democratic indicators of political participation and political culture (Kekic 2007:3). This echoes a disturbing decline in Botswana’s performance on ‘voice and accountability’, which, in terms of the World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Indicators, measures the extent to which a country’s citizens are able to participate in selecting their government and to enjoy freedom of expression, freedom of association and free media. According to this assessment, Botswana ranked number two in sub-Saharan Africa in 2003 and 2004, with 85%. The country dropped to number three in 2005 (65%), then stood at number seven in 2006 (50%), number six in 2007 (50%) and number five in 2008 (55%) (World Bank Institute 2003–2008). This decline might be due to a number of factors, including the limited capacity of citizens, particularly in illiterate and marginalised communities, to make their voices heard beyond the ballot box. According to the Vision 2016 Botswana Performance Report (Vision Council 2009), ‘[l]ack of Setswana language newspaper and community radio stations may limit information flow, particularly in rural areas’, thus adversely affecting citizens’ meaningful participation in public hearings, reviews of official documents, development of public policy and decision-making processes, as well as the Botswana political sphere generally. [3.139.104.214] Project MUSE (2024-04-19 22...

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