What Has Made Political Institutions in Botswana and Mauritius Tick?

David Sebudubudu ； Keneilwe Mooketsane

《Taiwan Journal of Democracy》 12卷1期 (2016/07) Pp. 145-168

並列摘要

Botswana and Mauritius are among the select few countries in Africa that are notable for successfully fostering development. That there is a consensus regarding Botswana and Mauritius as extraordinary cases of democratic development in Africa is beyond dispute, and their success and, indeed, ＂exceptionality＂ has been well documented by various analysts. The prominence of the two African cases is illustrative of the challenges and promises African politics hold. What is particularly interesting about the two countries is that they succeeded in the face of adversity, where many countries in Africa failed. In fact, institutions in the two countries, in the main, have endured and aided democratic development as opposed to impeding it. In other words, the two countries have ensured effective and quality institutions. The question we seek to answer is what has made their political institutions effective, while the same cannot be said about the institutions in most of their peer nations. We argue that the success of political institutions in the two countries is an outcome of multiple factors: strong and committed leadership, ability to manage ethnic diversity, a competent and meritorious bureaucracy and strong state capacity, as well as the ability to forge a public-private sector coalition. It is these factors that the essay seeks to explain.

並列關鍵字

Botswana ； institutions ； effective leadership ； Mauritius ； successful democratic transitions

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