The Mutation of Parliament into a “Registration Chamber”: Executive Dominance over the Legislature in Botswana

David Sebudubudu, Bugalo Maripe, Mokganedi Z. Botlhomilwe, Ikanyeng S. Malila

Abstract


With forty-seven years of its existence, Botswana has widely been described by scholars as an example of a functioning multi-party democracy in Africa. Despite this major and rare achievement, Botswana’s parliament is weak in relation to the executive arm of the government. The parliament has so far failed to be vibrant and a truly independent body for representing the voice of the electorate. It is in this context that this article argues that far from being a nerve centre for  democracy, the parliament in Botswana has been reduced to, in the thesis of Poulantzas, a mere “registration chamber” of executive decisions. Yet, how Botswana has perceivably remained a democracy against the background of a weakened parliament remains a mystery. This article examines some structural, legal and operational challenges to explain this state of affairs.

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