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Constitutional Political Economy

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01.06.2006 | Original Article

The Political Foundations of Development: The Case of Botswana

verfasst von: Scott A. Beaulier, J. Robert Subrick

Erschienen in: Constitutional Political Economy | Ausgabe 2/2006

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Abstract

Unlike many of its fellow sub-Saharan countries, Botswana has avoided the African Growth Tragedy. The success lied in the ability of the government of Botswana to successfully adopt growth-enhancing policies. We argue that the success stems from three factors. First, the government enhanced its legitimacy by relying on traditional sources of authority. Second, the traditional leaders pursued policies that legitimized the political system. Third, the government did not expend resources on military expenditures during its first decade. The interaction of these factors explain Botswana’s success.

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While conducting fieldwork in Botswana, a number of different interviewees made note of this increase in paved roads. Among them were Alec Campbell, the Honorary Baledzi Gaoloathe, Quill Hermans, and Jay Salkin. Interestingly, many of the roads have been provided privately by the diamond industry. The 13 mile road from Jwaneng mine to Orapa, for example, is one of the best maintained roads in Botswana. Upkeep on this road is handled primarily by Debswana Mining. Many other roads connected to diamond mines have also been privately provided for.

Beaulier (2003) argues that Botswana’s success stemmed from their adoption of wealth-creating policies after independence. We go beyond his paper and explain how the institutional framework emerged as a result of the policy choices and increased political legitimacy.

We chose 1971 as our first year in order to maximize the number of countries based on data availability.

The 2005 IMF World Economic Outlook explores this possibility.

See Beaulier and Subrick (forthcoming) for an analysis of how Botswana avoided the natural resource curse.

We calculated growth rates from the 2004 World Development Indicators.

It should be noted that Ayittey (1992) regards toleration of dissent as the key determinant of Botswana’s success. We will not dispute Ayittey’s claim, but rather offer an extension of his argument which maintains that, in addition to toleration of dissent, Botswana’s ruling elite sent many other signals demonstrating that it was committed to non-predatory rule.

The practice of mixing common tribal lands coupled with private cattle holdings continues in present day Botswana. When one travels around Botswana, cattle roam freely on tribal lands. As one cattle owner told us, when looking for his cattle, he often roams the tribal lands for days in search of his cattle. There are few fenced in cattle ranches. In fact, the only fences that are erected are those dividing tribal lands and those that have been put up to prevent the spread of livestock-borne diseases. The interview with the cattle owner mentioned above occurred on July 18, 2004 in northern Botswana near the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans. The owner preferred to remain anonymous.

We are deeply indebted to Professor Clark Leith for pointing this out to us during an interview on June 24, 2004 in his office in Gaborone, Botswana.

Herbst (2000) minimizes the effect of colonization on African development. By contrast, Young (1994) maintains that the effect of European colonization was quite detrimental to development, because European colonization of Africa was largely driven by policies of “ruthless extraction”. We will remain silent on the point of whether colonization promoted or hindered economic development overall, but we do find that the colonizing country, whether it be Great Britain or France, did not matter in sub-Saharan Africa.

Dale (1995) and Samatar (1999) both give readers this impression of Great Britain’s involvement in the Bechuanaland Protectorate.

Interview with Donald Stephenson in a conference room at the Bank of Botswana on June 23, 2004 at 8:30 am in Gaborone, Botswana.

The BNF is widely recognized as an explicitly socialist alternative to the BDP.

See Gwartney, Lawson, Park, and Skipton (2004). These measures find that Botswana’s freedom rating rose from a 5.6 in 1980 to a 7.4 in 2000. Botswana’s overall economic freedom ranking improved from 48th in 1980 to 18th in 2002.

According to the Freedom House, the highest marginal tax rate in 1980 was 75% and appears to be excessively high. In 1980, the world average was 58% and the average for sub-Saharan Africa was 57%. Botswana reduced the highest marginal income tax throughout the 1980s and 1990s to reach its current levels. In each subsequent period (1985, 1990, 1995), Botswana’s highest marginal tax rate was below the average for sub-Saharan Africa and nearly equal to the world average. In relative terms, its marginal tax rates were not very high.

La Porta, Lopez-de-Silanes, Pop-Eleches, and Shleifer (2004) provide empirical evidence in favor Hayek’s conjecture.

http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/inscr/polity/Bot1.htm.

Available from http://info.worldbank.org/governance/kkz2004/tables.asp. The scores are calculated so that the world mean is zero and the indicator has standard deviation of one.

http://www.cid.harvard.edu/ciddata/ciddata.html

Gupta, de Mello, and Sharan (2001) find a positive correlation between military spending and corruption.

Interview by one of the authors with former expatriate and historian of Botswana’s culture, Alec Campbell, at his house on July 24, 2004 in Gaborone, Botswana.

Personal interview with Professor Clark Leith on June 24, 2004 in his office in Gaborone, Botswana.

Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S., & J. Robinson. (2001). Reversal of Fortune: Geography and Institutions in the Making of the Modern World Income Distribution. NBER Working Paper #8460 .

Ayittey, G. 1998 Africa in chaos St. Martin’s PressNew York

Ayittey, G. 1992 Africa betrayed St. Martin’s PressNew York

Bates, R., Greif, A., Levi, M., Rosenthal, J. L., Weingast, B. 1998 Analytic narratives Princeton University PressPrinceton, NJ

Beaulier, S. 2003Explaining Botswana’s success: The critical role of post-colonial policyCato Journal23227240

Beaulier, S., & Subrick, J. R. (forthcoming). Mining institutional quality: How Botswana escaped the natural resource curse. Indian Journal of Economics and Business.

Bertocchi, G., Canova, F. 2002Did colonization matter for growth? An empirical exploration into the historical causes of Africa’s underdevelopmentEuropean Economic Review4618511871CrossRef

Dale, R. 1995 Botswana’s search for autonomy in southern Africa Greenwood PressWestport, CT

Djankov, S., La Porta, R., Shleifer, A. 2002Regulation of entryQuarterly Journal of Economics117137CrossRef

Easterly, W. 2001 The elusive quest for growth MIT PressCambridge, MA

Easterly, W., & Levine, R. (1997). Africa’s growth tragedy: Policies and ethnic divisions. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1203–1250.

Gupta, S., Mello, L., Sharan, R. 2001Corruption and military spendingEuropean Journal of Political Economy4749777CrossRef

Gwartney, J., Lawson, R., Park, W., Skipton, C. 2001 Economic freedom of the World 2001 annual report The Fraser InstituteVancouver, BC

Herbst, J. 2000 States and power in Africa Princeton University PressPrinceton, NJ

La Porta, R., Lopez-de-Silanes, F., Pop-Eleches, C., & Shleifer, A. (2004). Judicial checks and balances. Journal of Political Economy, 445–470.

Lipset, S. 1979 The first new nation: The United States in historical and comparative perspective W. W. NortonNew York

North, D. 1981 Structure and change in economic history W.W. NortonNew York

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Platteau, J. P. 2000 Institutions, social norms, and economic development RoutledgeNew York

Public Opinion Center2001 Southern African democracy barometer Public Opinion CenterCape Town, South Africa

Ramey, G., Ramey, V. A. 1995Cross-country evidence on the link between volatility and growthAmerican Economic Review8511381151

Sachs, J. (2001). Tropical underdevelopment, NBER Working Paper # 8119.

Samatar, A. 1999 An African miracle: State and class leadership and colonial legacy in Botswana development HeinemannPortsmouth

Schapera, I. 1952 The ethnic composition of Tswana tribes MacMillanLondon

Widner, J. 2001 Building the rule of law W.W. NortonNew York

Wood, A., Berge, K. 1994Exporting manufactures: Human resources, natural resources, and trade policyJournal of Development Studies343559

World Bank. (2004). World development indicators, 2005. Washington: DC.

Young, C. 1994 The African colonial state in comparative perspective Yale University PressNew Haven, CT

Titel: The Political Foundations of Development: The Case of Botswana
verfasst von: Scott A. Beaulier
J. Robert Subrick
Publikationsdatum: 01.06.2006
Verlag: Kluwer Academic Publishers
Erschienen in: Constitutional Political Economy / Ausgabe 2/2006
Print ISSN: 1043-4062
Elektronische ISSN: 1572-9966
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10602-006-0002-x

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