Botswana Essay

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correlates with the belief of Kohli that colonialism played an important part in establishing an effective state.

Another factor in the creation of a successful state, according to Kohli, is the contribution of the armed forces, as seen in the case of Nigeria, who was negatively impacted by the institution of military rule. It started from a military coup led by the Ibos and later, the northern part of the state, which eventually led to a civil war. Kohli would argue that Nigeria’s army was too powerful, which led to their poor governance, thus creating an ineffective state. In contrast, Botswana wanted to spend very little money on their military in the developing phase of the country. Due to the incredibly small size of the Batswana army they did not have to worry about the military trying to overthrow the government and ineffectively directing the state. Kohli would promote the idea of a small army for a developing country, for the government would not be threatened by the force of a military coup.

According to Kohli, nationalist movements were also important in creating an effective state. Although Botswana did not have much of a nationalist movement, it is important to note that they continued to preserve their cultural beliefs after independence. The cultural beliefs of the country became an important aspect of developing an effective Batswana state. This characteristic of Botswana’s impressive development can be better explained by the theories of David Landes.

The Tswana tribe leaders, influenced by their cultural beliefs, and Botswana’s people developed a democratic society before the British colonized the country. In the Tswana tribe, the chief was accountable to his people and the people could express their disproval with the ruler. This political system also set up a public forum where a group of men could gather to discuss issues together to come up with a resolution for the tribe, called the Kgotla (Martin 40). This illustrates Landes argument in that Botswana’s pre-colonial culture played a critical role in setting up a proto-democratic government. This was also able to persist through colonialism because of the very limited role Britain played in colonizing the country. In addition, Landes argument also stressed the importance of private property rights, which the Botswana Democratic Party implemented into their governing strategy. These strong fundamentals led to increased economic growth for Botswana that can be better explained by the argument of Landes.

Botswana developed a state that Kohli’s thesis would be able to explain, for it demonstrates characteristics of a cohesive-capitalist state, formed from limited colonial rule and only a small contribution by their armed forces. Although it did not show a nationalist movement, as seen in a country such as India, it was able to preserve its culture, which helped set up a strong central government. Botswana’s choice in picking the “right” economic and governmental policies has made it one of the fastest growing countries since its independence in 1965.