The House of Chiefs and the Political Development of Botswana
- 1 May 1968
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in The Journal of Modern African Studies
- Vol. 6 (1), 59-79
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022278x00016670
Abstract
A major problem encountered by the builders of many of the new states in Africa has been that of defining a satisfactory position for the traditional tribal authorities in a more integrated and democratic political system. In Botswana a solution has been sought not only at the level of local government, where much of the Chiefs' power has been transferred to elected district councils, but also at the national level, where a House of Chiefs has been created to advise Government and Parliament. This body merits examination as a constructive effort to synthesise indigenous and imported institutions, and to accommodate the interests and demands of the hereditary rulers and their more conservative subjects, who remain deeply rooted in the tribal structure, in a manner which is acceptable to the new élite and their supporters, who are eager to modernise quickly.Keywords
This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit:
- Minutes of the 12th Annual General MeetingIETE Journal of Education, 1966
- Report of the Annual Meeting 1966Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique, 1966
- Magnetoelastic vibration of a plateFlow, Turbulence and Combustion, 1965