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Ethnic structure, inequality and governance of the public sector in botswana
Selolwane, Onalenna Doo
Selolwane, Onalenna Doo
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Selolwan.pdf
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Abstract
"Since 1966 when Botswana became an independent sovereignty, the country has been undergoing a stable process of institution building and reform that has given the state a level of legitimacy and moral authority quite rare in post-colonial Africa. Elsewhere1 I have explained how this process of nation building and consolidation of modern state power occurred in the context of the challenges of the legacy of colonial administration, deteriorating conditions in the world economy, and the growth of civil society. Focusing my analysis mainly on the management of the economy and the political system, I argued that the nature and character of the state in Botswana reflects the outcome of an interplay of sectional interests and structural factors, and that therefore to understand the level of institutional development it is crucially important to examine the roles of both state and non-state agencies in the state building enterprise. For the current discussion I wish to take the argument further and examine Botswana’s experience with managing ethnic inequalities in the process of public sector institution building and the consolidation of accountable governance. The predominant discourse on the role of ethnicity in state building in Africa most often posits multi-ethnicity as a problem or a hindrance that undermines institutional development and is a major source of state failure. This perception has often been informed by the assumption that in Africa ethnic tensions necessarily manifest themselves in violent confrontations that require the use of state coercion to maintain order."(pg 1)
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2004-03
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With permission of the license/copyright holder