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Mutual criticism and state/society interaction in Botswana

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2004

Zibani Maundeni
Zibani Maundeni
Affiliation:
Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Botswana.
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Abstract

State/civil society interaction in Botswana displays patterns characterised by mutual criticism in each other's presence, the willingness of state officials to meet and exchange views with non-state leaders, and the media's role of reminding the contestants to meet and exchange views. The Botswana political culture compels/constrains contestants to meet and exchange views rather than to disengage and resort to the trading of unpleasant remarks in the media and to industrial action on the street. The theoretical implication is that political culture vitally shapes state/civil society interaction and should not be ignored by researchers who seek to define/characterise strong/weak civil societies.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 42 , Issue 4 , December 2004 , pp. 619 - 636
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

This article has benefited from comments by Roger Tangri and by two anonymous reviewers. I thank them for the helpful criticism that sharpened the focus of the article.