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

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.