The politics of elections in Botswana

AbstractBotswana's history of uninterrupted competitive elections since 1965, and the extensive literature that these contests have engendered, are re-examined in order, first, to illuminate the developing views of Batswana on the purposes and meanings of these events, second, to examine the evolution of electoral processes in that state, and third, to elucidate the effects that elections have had on the institutionalisation of a stable polity. A principal finding is that elections are increasingly widely accepted by the electorate, and that electoral outcomes are perceived as materially important to a population that apparently now judges candidates and parties very instrumentally on the basis of their observed political achievements. Electoral competition, in turn, has become an increasingly important factor in shaping some central elements in Botswana's political processes, perhaps particularly since the competition between government and opposition has emerged primarily as a contest between the ruling BDP and the aspirant BNF. Overall, the extensive data generated by earlier election studies, notably the results of recent mass opinion surveys, permit the development of a perspective on Botswana's politics that accords elections a more central role than has hitherto been conventional.