Botswana Votes: Parties and Elections in an African Democracy

James H. Polhemus

doi:10.1017/S0022278X00023491

Botswana Votes: Parties and Elections in an African Democracy

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 November 2008

James H. Polhemus

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During 1984 the citizens of Botswana will return to the polls for their fifth national election, the fourth since independence in 1966. While not an unusual exercise in Botswana, this will be a significant occurrence in an independent Africa where elections themselves have become increasingly rare and problematic, and still more so within a multi-party system which amounted to more than simply rubber-stamping party decisions. While other states in Africa concern themselves with the establishment of one-party régimes or with the need return to civilian rule, Botswana has had a successful series of multiparty elections uninterrupted by military coups. This article explores Botswana's experience, with attention to parties, the electoral system, voting trends, and prospects for the future.

Type: Articles
Information: The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 21 , Issue 3 , September 1983 , pp. 397 - 430

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022278X00023491 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1983

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References

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^{page 406 note 3} Ibid. pp. 28–9.

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^{page 409 note 1} Pamphlet No. 1, p. 19.

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^{page 418 note 6} Fortmann, Louise and Roe, Emery, ‘The Water Points Survey’, Ministry of Agriculture, Gaborone, 01 1981, p. xvi.Google Scholar

^{page 421 note 1} Report to the Minister of State on the General Elections, 1974, paras. 17–22.

^{page 424 note 1} Young, Helen, ‘The UBLS Election Research Project, 1974’, in Young, and Cohen, Denis, Voters and Candidates in the 1974 Botswana General Election: two studies on the political and statistical aspects (Gaborone, National Institute for Development and Cultural Research, 07 1979), pp. 57–9.Google Scholar

^{page 424 note 2} Parson, Jack, ‘A Note on the 1974 General Election in Botswana and the UBLS Election Study’, in Botswana Notes and Records (Gaborone), 1975, pp. 76–8.Google Scholar

^{page 424 note 3} Kuper, Adam, Kalahari Village Politics: an African democracy (London, 1970), p. 179.Google Scholar

^{page 424 note 4} ‘Lesedi La Puso: a Radio Learning Group Campaign in Western Botswana’, Boipelego Education Project, Ministry of Education, Gaborone, n.d. p. 7.

^{page 425 note 1} Parson, loc. cit. pp. 76–7.

^{page 427 note 1} Lipton, Michael, Botswana. Employment and Labour Use in Botswana: final report, Vol. 1 (Gaborone, 1978), p. iii.Google Scholar

^{page 428 note 1} On Botswana's relations with South Africa, see Polhemus, James H., ‘Botswana's Role in the Liberation of Southern Africa’, in Picard, (ed.), op. cit.Google Scholar and ‘The Refugee Factor in Botswana’, 6th Annual Conference of the African Studies Association of Australia and the Pacific,Monash,25–27 August 1983.Google Scholar

^{page 429 note 1} Maano, Lentlhabile, ‘Official Car Secret Revealed in House’, in Daily News, 8 12 1982, p. 1.Google Scholar

^{page 429 note 2} ‘Democrats Urged to Pursue the BDP Way’, in ibid. 8 March 1983, p. 1.

^{page 429 note 3} ‘Police and Politics’, in ibid. 21 March 1983, p. 1.

^{page 429 note 4} Alaudin Osman, ‘Mr Examiner to Make Key Witness as He Loses Reports’, in ibid. 29 April 1983, p. 1.

^{page 429 note 5} Bapasi Mphusu, ‘Examiner Suspends Publication’, in ibid. 13 May 1983, p. 1.

^{page 429 note 6} ‘BDP Sweeps in Weekend By-Elections’, in ibid. 16 May 1983, p. 1.

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