ISBN 9781920409777
Pages 118
Dimensions 244 x 170 mm
Published 2012
Publisher Idasa, South Africa
Format Paperback

A Fine Balance

Assessing the Quality of Governance in Botswana

edited by Karin Alexander, Gape Kaboyakgosi

This inaugural Democracy Index for Botswana is intended to set a benchmark for democracy to be measured against. The tool, developed and honed by Idasa over many years, assesses the depth of democracy in a country through five focus areas: participation, elections, accountability, political rights, and human dignity. The research relies on expert analysis to answer a set of questions that interrogate how closely, in practice, democracy meets the broad ideal of self-representative government. More specifically, to what extent can citizens control elected officials and government appointees who make decisions about public affairs? And how equal are citizens to one another in this accountability process? The purpose of the scores is to assist citizens in making their own judgements, based on the information made available, to stimulate national debate and to provide democracy promoters with a tool for identifying issues and needs that can be addressed by education, advocacy, training, institution building and policy revision. Idasa's Democracy Index - initially developed for South Africa - is being expanded into Southern Africa in an effort to broaden the capacity of individuals and organisation's monitoring and supporting democratic governance efforts in the region.

Book Preview
Paperback
£34.10

About the Editors

Karin Alexander

Karin Alexander runs Idasa’s strategic team on Measuring and Monitoring Democracy and is a member of the Ibrahim Index on African Governance Advisory Council. A Zimbabwean Rhodes Scholar with an MPhil in Development Studies from Oxford University and an undergraduate degree from Harvard University, her areas of specialisation include democratisation, governance and conflict management. Karin co-wrote Oil and Governance Report: A Case Study of Angola, Chad, Gabon and São Tomé and Principe and co-edited Peace in the Balance: The Crisis in Sudan, published by the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, and produced ‘Peace Beyond Justice’, an educational documentary on the Gacaca Courts in Rwanda. Idasa’s States in Transition Observatory (under her management) regularly produces publications including Developing a Transformation Agenda for Zimbabwe and monthly Election Watch monitoring reports on key SADC states.

Gape Kaboyakgosi

Gape Kaboyakgosi holds a doctorate in Public Policy from the Australian National University, Canberra, where he specialised in the field of regulation. He is currently acting head of the Public Sector Reforms Unit at the Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis. His research interests include government-business relations, governance, and public policy and administration.

Related Books