The Elite as a Critical Factor. the Case of Botswana

The Elite as a Critical Factor. the Case of Botswana PDF Author: David Sebudubudu
Publisher: Nordic Africa Institute
ISBN: 9789171066954
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 50

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Book Description
The Discussion Paper provides insightful explanations for Botswana's emergence as one of Africa's developmental success stories. It underscores the role of the ruling elite coalition in shaping the particular kind of politics, inclusive policies, consensus, partnerships and vision that have contributed to the emergence of Botswana as a democratic developmental state. This is an important paper that should be read by all those keen to understand how Botswana has managed to avoid the 'natural resource curse' and stand out as a model of democratic stability and sustained economic growth in Africa.

The Elite as a Critical Factor. the Case of Botswana

The Elite as a Critical Factor. the Case of Botswana PDF Author: David Sebudubudu
Publisher: Nordic Africa Institute
ISBN: 9789171066954
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 50

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Discussion Paper provides insightful explanations for Botswana's emergence as one of Africa's developmental success stories. It underscores the role of the ruling elite coalition in shaping the particular kind of politics, inclusive policies, consensus, partnerships and vision that have contributed to the emergence of Botswana as a democratic developmental state. This is an important paper that should be read by all those keen to understand how Botswana has managed to avoid the 'natural resource curse' and stand out as a model of democratic stability and sustained economic growth in Africa.

The Politics of Social Protection in Eastern and Southern Africa

The Politics of Social Protection in Eastern and Southern Africa PDF Author: Sam Hickey
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198850344
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 309

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Book Description
"A study prepared for the World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University (UNU-WIDER)"

Why Nations Fail

Why Nations Fail PDF Author: Daron Acemoglu
Publisher: Currency
ISBN: 0307719227
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 546

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Book Description
Brilliant and engagingly written, Why Nations Fail answers the question that has stumped the experts for centuries: Why are some nations rich and others poor, divided by wealth and poverty, health and sickness, food and famine? Is it culture, the weather, geography? Perhaps ignorance of what the right policies are? Simply, no. None of these factors is either definitive or destiny. Otherwise, how to explain why Botswana has become one of the fastest growing countries in the world, while other African nations, such as Zimbabwe, the Congo, and Sierra Leone, are mired in poverty and violence? Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson conclusively show that it is man-made political and economic institutions that underlie economic success (or lack of it). Korea, to take just one of their fascinating examples, is a remarkably homogeneous nation, yet the people of North Korea are among the poorest on earth while their brothers and sisters in South Korea are among the richest. The south forged a society that created incentives, rewarded innovation, and allowed everyone to participate in economic opportunities. The economic success thus spurred was sustained because the government became accountable and responsive to citizens and the great mass of people. Sadly, the people of the north have endured decades of famine, political repression, and very different economic institutions—with no end in sight. The differences between the Koreas is due to the politics that created these completely different institutional trajectories. Based on fifteen years of original research Acemoglu and Robinson marshall extraordinary historical evidence from the Roman Empire, the Mayan city-states, medieval Venice, the Soviet Union, Latin America, England, Europe, the United States, and Africa to build a new theory of political economy with great relevance for the big questions of today, including: - China has built an authoritarian growth machine. Will it continue to grow at such high speed and overwhelm the West? - Are America’s best days behind it? Are we moving from a virtuous circle in which efforts by elites to aggrandize power are resisted to a vicious one that enriches and empowers a small minority? - What is the most effective way to help move billions of people from the rut of poverty to prosperity? More philanthropy from the wealthy nations of the West? Or learning the hard-won lessons of Acemoglu and Robinson’s breakthrough ideas on the interplay between inclusive political and economic institutions? Why Nations Fail will change the way you look at—and understand—the world.

Democracy in Africa

Democracy in Africa PDF Author: Nic Cheeseman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316239489
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 269

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Book Description
This book provides the first comprehensive overview of the history of democracy in Africa and explains why the continent's democratic experiments have so often failed, as well as how they could succeed. Nic Cheeseman grapples with some of the most important questions facing Africa and democracy today, including whether international actors should try and promote democracy abroad, how to design political systems that manage ethnic diversity, and why democratic governments often make bad policy decisions. Beginning in the colonial period with the introduction of multi-party elections and ending in 2013 with the collapse of democracy in Mali and South Sudan, the book describes the rise of authoritarian states in the 1970s; the attempts of trade unions and some religious groups to check the abuse of power in the 1980s; the remarkable return of multiparty politics in the 1990s; and finally, the tragic tendency for elections to exacerbate corruption and violence.

Why Botswana Prospered

Why Botswana Prospered PDF Author: James Clark Leith
Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
ISBN: 0773528202
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 170

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Book Description
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.

40 Years of Democracy in Botswana, 1965-2005

40 Years of Democracy in Botswana, 1965-2005 PDF Author: Zibani Maundeni
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description


The Political Economy of Natural Resource Funds

The Political Economy of Natural Resource Funds PDF Author: Eyene Okpanachi
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030782514
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description
This book aims to foster a better understanding of the particular challenges faced by resource-dependent countries or jurisdictions in managing their resource revenues through natural resource funds (NRFs). It explores the varieties of natural resource management strategies as dictated primarily by domestic politics, and how the potential negative distributional consequences of resource wealth management (the resource curse) may add political dimensions and potential conflicts to decisions about NRFs in ways that other sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) do not experience. By bridging the existing academic and practical knowledge gap arising from the limited attention given to the domestic politics of NRFs and state-society relations, this edited book is a valuable resource for academics, policymakers, and civil society actors in resource-driven economies and especially those interested in learning from comparative experiences of natural resource wealth management through NRFs.

Nation Building

Nation Building PDF Author: Andreas Wimmer
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691177384
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 374

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Book Description
A new and comprehensive look at the reasons behind successful or failed nation building Nation Building presents bold new answers to an age-old question. Why is national integration achieved in some diverse countries, while others are destabilized by political inequality between ethnic groups, contentious politics, or even separatism and ethnic war? Traversing centuries and continents from early nineteenth-century Europe and Asia to Africa from the turn of the twenty-first century to today, Andreas Wimmer delves into the slow-moving forces that encourage political alliances to stretch across ethnic divides and build national unity. Using datasets that cover the entire world and three pairs of case studies, Wimmer’s theory of nation building focuses on slow-moving, generational processes: the spread of civil society organizations, linguistic assimilation, and the states’ capacity to provide public goods. Wimmer contrasts Switzerland and Belgium to demonstrate how the early development of voluntary organizations enhanced nation building; he examines Botswana and Somalia to illustrate how providing public goods can bring diverse political constituencies together; and he shows that the differences between China and Russia indicate how a shared linguistic space may help build political alliances across ethnic boundaries. Wimmer then reveals, based on the statistical analysis of large-scale datasets, that these mechanisms are at work around the world and explain nation building better than competing arguments such as democratic governance or colonial legacies. He also shows that when political alliances crosscut ethnic divides and when most ethnic communities are represented at the highest levels of government, the general populace will identify with the nation and its symbols, further deepening national political integration. Offering a long-term historical perspective and global outlook, Nation Building sheds important new light on the challenges of political integration in diverse countries.

Ordering Power

Ordering Power PDF Author: Dan Slater
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139489968
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Like the postcolonial world more generally, Southeast Asia exhibits tremendous variation in state capacity and authoritarian durability. Ordering Power draws on theoretical insights dating back to Thomas Hobbes to develop a unified framework for explaining both of these political outcomes. States are especially strong and dictatorships especially durable when they have their origins in 'protection pacts': broad elite coalitions unified by shared support for heightened state power and tightened authoritarian controls as bulwarks against especially threatening and challenging types of contentious politics. These coalitions provide the elite collective action underpinning strong states, robust ruling parties, cohesive militaries, and durable authoritarian regimes - all at the same time. Comparative-historical analysis of seven Southeast Asian countries (Burma, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Vietnam, and Thailand) reveals that subtly divergent patterns of contentious politics after World War II provide the best explanation for the dramatic divergence in Southeast Asia's contemporary states and regimes.

Yes, Africa Can

Yes, Africa Can PDF Author: Punam Chuhan-Pole
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 0821387456
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 497

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Book Description
Takes an in-depth look at twenty-six economic and social development successes in Sub-Saharan African countries, and addresses how these countries have overcome major developmental challenges.