Kenneth Good
Biographic Data
| ID | 167438 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kenneth Good |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kenneth |
| FAMILY NAME | Good |
| SIGNATURE | GOOD K |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Botswana |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 38 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 300 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 38 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1968 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| H-INDEX | 11 |
Democracy and development in Botswana
The present writer cannot claim to be a neutral or unbiased observer of Botswana’s democracy and development, having been a victim of uncurbed presidential power in 2005, when, one Friday evening o
Cuba's Defence of Angola against Pretoria and Washington
Cuba's long military commitment to Angola resulted in two great victories that saved the country from catastrophic defeat and in the end initiated profound regional change. But long warfare also helped to entrench a heavy, elitist authoritarianism which served as a platform for deep presidentialist corruption. An 'oiligarchy' enjoys great wealth while simultaneously ignoring the basic needs of the people
Autocracy, insecurity and pre-modernity in Botswana
The elevation of Lt-General Ian Khama to the presidency in April 2008 brought an escalating emphasis on security. A Directorate of Intelligence and Security was operationalised under the aegis of the President, and a spate of extra-judicial killings followed. Khama simultaneously asserted his control over the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), despite the fact that a pro-democratic faction – Barata Phathi – emerged victorious at the BDP cong…
The Drive for Participatory Democracy in Nineteenth Century Britain
In association with the industrial revolution, a wide range of new self-help organisations, from friendly societies and cooperatives to trade unions, were constructed by rising urban working classes and a lower middle class in nineteenth century Britain. The process was broad and deep, built upon a pre-existing culture of democracy, and extended through a vibrant autodidact workers' society. Against entrenched oligarchical power, the popular move…
Diamonds, Dispossession and Democracy in Botswana
Is Botswana still 'an African miracle'? Thanks to diamonds the country's growth rate was the highest in the world into the 1990s, and regular parliamentary elections judged free on polling day have been held since 1965. However a duopoly of presidentialism and ruling party preponderance has stimulated arrogance, complacency and corruption among the country's rulers. What is 'perpetual democracy'? The ruling BDP is kept in perpetual power by the f…
Botswana
Against all odds, Botswana was able to construct an electoral democracy, following a deviant transition. How and why Botswana made a transition to democracy and consolidated the system, as well as the limitations of the Botswana case in terms of accountability and democratic consolidation, is discussed in this article. The article argues that although the country posseses a functioning electoral democracy, it is marked by illiberal authoritariani…
Mounting repression in Botswana
Botswana is routinely celebrated as a ‘model’ for Africa and is habitually portrayed as an exception to the general slide to autocracy that has characterized much of post-colonial Africa. In fact, Botswana's polity is typified by an unaccountable president, an extremely weak civil society, and grotesque levels of inequality. There are growing indications that Botswana is descending to autocracy and arbitrariness and its democratic profile is in s…
Democratization in Southern Africa
Kenneth Good was Professor of Political Studies at the University of Botswana and a resident of the country for 15 years until 31 May 2005, when he was taken from the country's High Court by security personnel and, seven hours later, put on a plane out of the country. His 14-week challenge to the declaration in February 2005 by President Festus Mogae that he was a Prohibited Immigrant on grounds of being a threat to national security had failed. …
Resource dependency and its consequences
The only good Bushman …
The glaring contrast between the furore over the repatriation of the unknown El Negro and the continuing neglect and subordination of some 100,000 of his San and other Remote descendants is considered. Botswana's Foreign Minister shows respect for EI Negro, but Botswana's treatment of the San today is the worst in the region. Relocation of ‘unwanted’ San , carried out using highly authoritarian methods, continues to occur, and the San population …
The only good Bushman
The glaring contrast between the furore over the repatriation of the unknown El Negro and the continuing neglect and subordination of some 100,000 of his San and other Remote descendants is considered. Botswana's Foreign Minister shows respect for EI Negro, but Botswana's treatment of the San today is the worst in the region. Relocation of ‘unwanted’ San , carried out using highly authoritarian methods, continues to occur, and the San population …
Democracy and the Control of Elites
Routinized Injustice
Not the least of the difficulties faced by the San is that they are a ‘people without history’, without a single self-given name, and with no accurate information in Botswana even of their numbers. 1 Their history was appropriated by conquerors, and their names are those of their masters and governors; all to varying degrees terms of abuse. Popular and official usage in recent decades is reliant upon Basarwa, supplemented since 1974 by the govern…
Autocratic Elites and Enfeebled Masses
Botswana is an established liberal democracy in existence since pre-independence elections in 1965. Open, competitive, free and fairly fair elections occur regularly. The rule of law is generally upheld, though not necessarily equally available to all in every sphere. Good levels of rationality and efficiency commonly prevail in government and the private sector. Corruption occurs among the ruling elite in the nexus that exists between government…
The Liberal Model and Africa
This book critically examines the realities of liberal democracy; its elitism and non-accountability; and its inequalities and injustices. Participatory systems and movements, whether in Athens, seven
Globalization and Diversification
With most of its eggs in the diamond basket, diversification is vital for Botswana. Globalization, as the re‐location of production processes, is a potential answer to the problem, at the cost of the exploitation of workers in new, low‐grade manufacturing activities and their non‐unionization. At the Selebi‐Phikwe Regional Development Project jobs were made and lost, and skills creation and capital investment were low, because of the state's inca…
An African Miracle
Anthropologists Debate Future of War
Enduring elite democracy in Botswana
Botswana has long been viewed as a 'shining light' of democracy in southern Africa. But, as a predominant party system, where extensive powers are concentrated in the hands of a presidency that is not directly elected by the people, and a record of official discouragement of free expression by the press exists, the polity is characterized by elitism, centralized political power and weak executive accountability. In some democratic aspects Namibia…
The state and extreme poverty in Botswana
The rise of wealth and power within the cattle-owning economy of Botswana has been accompanied by the creation of poverty and weakness. The impoverishment of the San and ‘destitutes’ was a structured, comprehensive, and long-term process, caused less by phenomena such as periodic drought than by an elite of economic and political power, and the exploitation which they practised. The growth economy of recent decades has not ameliorated the situati…
Accountable to Themselves
While public attention has focused on the stature of Nelson Mandela, there has been at a deeper level in South Africa since 1990 a steep decline in state capacity, and a marked deterioration in democratic practice. The participatory democracy which had so characterised the decade of the 1980s was brought to a sharp end after the return of the nationalist leaders, and the workings of even a liberal, representative democracy have also suffered unde…
Authoritarian liberalism
(1996). Authoritarian liberalism: A defining characteristic of Botswana. Journal of Contemporary African Studies: Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 29-51
Towards Popular Participation in Botswana
Despitea competitive party system and regular free-and-fair elections, Botswana's polity has been characterised for almost 30 years by considerable authoritarianism focused on the extensive powers of the Presidency and based upon a hierarchical and highly inequitable society.1But pressures have recently arisen within the country for more openness, participation, and equality, and their growing effects were clearly evident in the October 1994 elec…
Corruption and Mismanagement in Botswana
IndependentBotswana has developed on three main pillars: rapid and sustained economic growth (over the decade to 1992, for example, at 8.4 per cent a year, third-highest among all developing countries, and far in excess of any other in Africa); multi-party or liberal democracy; and an efficient central state, the main features of which have been identified and praised by observers. With growth, an accompanying build-up of a relatively strong gove…
At the Ends of the Ladder
Botswana ranks very high in sub-Saharan Africa in income per capita, and in such indicators of human development as public expenditure on health and education. Nevertheless, inequalities of wealth and income are particularly severe, in both international and domestic comparisons. Although wealth and poverty are mediated and expressed in complex ways, the disparities between the very rich and the very poor are established, structured, and growing
Interpreting the Exceptionality of Botswana
Botswana has achieved rapid growth with stability since independence in 1966, largely through the supportive interrelations between an open market economy and a system of élite democracy, successfully blending 'traditional' and modern elements, and offering a range of fairly free and meaningful political choices. But growth, and the policies of a selectively interventionist state, have produced increasingly deep inequalities of property and incom…
Settler Colonialism
The rise and fall of the settler societies in Africa - in Algeria, Kenya, Rhodesia, and South Africa - is to be understood in relation to the global expansion and limited contraction of European capitalism, and in the light of the notions of underdevelopment and dependency. In strong contrast with the general experience of the Third World, settler societies show a capacity for independent capitalist development, built upon the heavy exploitation …
Diamonds, Dispossession and Democracy in Botswana
Is Botswana still 'an African miracle'? Thanks to diamonds the country's growth rate was the highest in the world into the 1990s, and regular parliamentary elections judged free on polling day have been held since 1965. However a duopoly of presidentialism and ruling party preponderance has stimulated arrogance, complacency and corruption among the country's rulers. What is 'perpetual democracy'? The ruling BDP is kept in perpetual power by the f…
The state and extreme poverty in Botswana
The rise of wealth and power within the cattle-owning economy of Botswana has been accompanied by the creation of poverty and weakness. The impoverishment of the San and ‘destitutes’ was a structured, comprehensive, and long-term process, caused less by phenomena such as periodic drought than by an elite of economic and political power, and the exploitation which they practised. The growth economy of recent decades has not ameliorated the situati…
At the Ends of the Ladder
Botswana ranks very high in sub-Saharan Africa in income per capita, and in such indicators of human development as public expenditure on health and education. Nevertheless, inequalities of wealth and income are particularly severe, in both international and domestic comparisons. Although wealth and poverty are mediated and expressed in complex ways, the disparities between the very rich and the very poor are established, structured, and growing
Towards Popular Participation in Botswana
Despitea competitive party system and regular free-and-fair elections, Botswana's polity has been characterised for almost 30 years by considerable authoritarianism focused on the extensive powers of the Presidency and based upon a hierarchical and highly inequitable society.1But pressures have recently arisen within the country for more openness, participation, and equality, and their growing effects were clearly evident in the October 1994 elec…
Corruption and Mismanagement in Botswana
IndependentBotswana has developed on three main pillars: rapid and sustained economic growth (over the decade to 1992, for example, at 8.4 per cent a year, third-highest among all developing countries, and far in excess of any other in Africa); multi-party or liberal democracy; and an efficient central state, the main features of which have been identified and praised by observers. With growth, an accompanying build-up of a relatively strong gove…
Enduring elite democracy in Botswana
Botswana has long been viewed as a 'shining light' of democracy in southern Africa. But, as a predominant party system, where extensive powers are concentrated in the hands of a presidency that is not directly elected by the people, and a record of official discouragement of free expression by the press exists, the polity is characterized by elitism, centralized political power and weak executive accountability. In some democratic aspects Namibia…
Authoritarian liberalism
(1996). Authoritarian liberalism: A defining characteristic of Botswana. Journal of Contemporary African Studies: Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 29-51
Botswana
Against all odds, Botswana was able to construct an electoral democracy, following a deviant transition. How and why Botswana made a transition to democracy and consolidated the system, as well as the limitations of the Botswana case in terms of accountability and democratic consolidation, is discussed in this article. The article argues that although the country posseses a functioning electoral democracy, it is marked by illiberal authoritariani…
Resource dependency and its consequences
Settler Colonialism in Rhodesia
Journal Article SETTLER COLONIALISM IN RHODESIA Get access KENNETH GOOD KENNETH GOOD Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar African Affairs, Volume 73, Issue 290, January 1974, Pages 10–36, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a096439 Published: 01 January 1974
Accountable to Themselves
While public attention has focused on the stature of Nelson Mandela, there has been at a deeper level in South Africa since 1990 a steep decline in state capacity, and a marked deterioration in democratic practice. The participatory democracy which had so characterised the decade of the 1980s was brought to a sharp end after the return of the nationalist leaders, and the workings of even a liberal, representative democracy have also suffered unde…
Democracy and development in Botswana
The present writer cannot claim to be a neutral or unbiased observer of Botswana’s democracy and development, having been a victim of uncurbed presidential power in 2005, when, one Friday evening o
Debt and the One-Party State in Zambia
In the debate over relief for Africa and the Third World, the situation of dictatorial, corrupt, and mismanaged régimes is often subsumed with the rest. It is rather uncritically accepted that indebtedness chiefly results from the impact of international factors, such as falling commodity prices, International Monetary Fund conditionalities, and rising metropolitan interest rates. The independent national state, whatever its policies and form, is…
Systemic Agricultural Mismanagement
After years of agricultural production significantly below domestic consumption needs for key commodities, in 1985 Zambia looked forward to a good harvest of maize, the nation's staple. The Minister of Co-operatives, Justin Mukando, said in February that more than eight million bags were anticipated, and the Prime Minister, Kebby S. K. Musokotwane, declared in May that 'we expect about ten million bags of maize'.1 In the Zambian system of preside…
Autocracy, insecurity and pre-modernity in Botswana
The elevation of Lt-General Ian Khama to the presidency in April 2008 brought an escalating emphasis on security. A Directorate of Intelligence and Security was operationalised under the aegis of the President, and a spate of extra-judicial killings followed. Khama simultaneously asserted his control over the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), despite the fact that a pro-democratic faction – Barata Phathi – emerged victorious at the BDP cong…
Mounting repression in Botswana
Botswana is routinely celebrated as a ‘model’ for Africa and is habitually portrayed as an exception to the general slide to autocracy that has characterized much of post-colonial Africa. In fact, Botswana's polity is typified by an unaccountable president, an extremely weak civil society, and grotesque levels of inequality. There are growing indications that Botswana is descending to autocracy and arbitrariness and its democratic profile is in s…
Democratization in Southern Africa
Kenneth Good was Professor of Political Studies at the University of Botswana and a resident of the country for 15 years until 31 May 2005, when he was taken from the country's High Court by security personnel and, seven hours later, put on a plane out of the country. His 14-week challenge to the declaration in February 2005 by President Festus Mogae that he was a Prohibited Immigrant on grounds of being a threat to national security had failed. …
Zambia and the Liberation of South Africa
The nine member-states of the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (S.A.D.C.C.) - Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola, Mozambique, Botswana, Tanzania, Malawi, Lesotho, Swaziland - are notable for their collective weakness relative to South Africa, and their very wide economic and political heterogeneity.1Only four, or at most five, have economies whose annual G.D.P. exceeds $2,000 million: two of these, Angola and Mozambique, are under more …
The Reproduction of Weakness in the State and Agriculture
Journal Article THE REPRODUCTION OF WEAKNESS IN THE STATE AND AGRICULTURE: ZAMBIAN EXPERIENCE Get access KENNETH GOOD KENNETH GOOD senior lecturer Political Studies at the University of Zambia Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar African Affairs, Volume 85, Issue 339, April 1986, Pages 239–265, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a097776 Published: 01 April 1986
Cuba's Defence of Angola against Pretoria and Washington
Cuba's long military commitment to Angola resulted in two great victories that saved the country from catastrophic defeat and in the end initiated profound regional change. But long warfare also helped to entrench a heavy, elitist authoritarianism which served as a platform for deep presidentialist corruption. An 'oiligarchy' enjoys great wealth while simultaneously ignoring the basic needs of the people
Globalization and Diversification
With most of its eggs in the diamond basket, diversification is vital for Botswana. Globalization, as the re‐location of production processes, is a potential answer to the problem, at the cost of the exploitation of workers in new, low‐grade manufacturing activities and their non‐unionization. At the Selebi‐Phikwe Regional Development Project jobs were made and lost, and skills creation and capital investment were low, because of the state's inca…
An African Miracle
Anthropologists Debate Future of War
Kenyatta and the Organization of Kanu
Udi
Journal Article UDI: the international politics of the Rhodesian rebellion Get access UDI: the international politics of the Rhodesian rebellion, by Robert C. Good. Faber and Faber, 1973. 368pp. £4.95. KENNETH GOOD KENNETH GOOD Bundoora, Australia Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar African Affairs, Volume 73, Issue 291, April 1974, Pages 243–244, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a096480 Published:…
Settler Colonialism in Rhodesia
Journal Article SETTLER COLONIALISM IN RHODESIA Get access KENNETH GOOD KENNETH GOOD Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar African Affairs, Volume 73, Issue 290, January 1974, Pages 10–36, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a096439 Published: 01 January 1974
The Static Concept and Changing Reality of Tribe
Class Formation in Colonial Situations
Settler Colonialism
The rise and fall of the settler societies in Africa - in Algeria, Kenya, Rhodesia, and South Africa - is to be understood in relation to the global expansion and limited contraction of European capitalism, and in the light of the notions of underdevelopment and dependency. In strong contrast with the general experience of the Third World, settler societies show a capacity for independent capitalist development, built upon the heavy exploitation …
Development and Dependency. The Political Economy of Papua New Guinea
The Reproduction of Weakness in the State and Agriculture
Journal Article THE REPRODUCTION OF WEAKNESS IN THE STATE AND AGRICULTURE: ZAMBIAN EXPERIENCE Get access KENNETH GOOD KENNETH GOOD senior lecturer Political Studies at the University of Zambia Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar African Affairs, Volume 85, Issue 339, April 1986, Pages 239–265, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a097776 Published: 01 April 1986
Systemic Agricultural Mismanagement
After years of agricultural production significantly below domestic consumption needs for key commodities, in 1985 Zambia looked forward to a good harvest of maize, the nation's staple. The Minister of Co-operatives, Justin Mukando, said in February that more than eight million bags were anticipated, and the Prime Minister, Kebby S. K. Musokotwane, declared in May that 'we expect about ten million bags of maize'.1 In the Zambian system of preside…
Zambia and the Liberation of South Africa
The nine member-states of the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (S.A.D.C.C.) - Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola, Mozambique, Botswana, Tanzania, Malawi, Lesotho, Swaziland - are notable for their collective weakness relative to South Africa, and their very wide economic and political heterogeneity.1Only four, or at most five, have economies whose annual G.D.P. exceeds $2,000 million: two of these, Angola and Mozambique, are under more …
Zambia
Debt and the One-Party State in Zambia
In the debate over relief for Africa and the Third World, the situation of dictatorial, corrupt, and mismanaged régimes is often subsumed with the rest. It is rather uncritically accepted that indebtedness chiefly results from the impact of international factors, such as falling commodity prices, International Monetary Fund conditionalities, and rising metropolitan interest rates. The independent national state, whatever its policies and form, is…
Interpreting the Exceptionality of Botswana
Botswana has achieved rapid growth with stability since independence in 1966, largely through the supportive interrelations between an open market economy and a system of élite democracy, successfully blending 'traditional' and modern elements, and offering a range of fairly free and meaningful political choices. But growth, and the policies of a selectively interventionist state, have produced increasingly deep inequalities of property and incom…
At the Ends of the Ladder
Botswana ranks very high in sub-Saharan Africa in income per capita, and in such indicators of human development as public expenditure on health and education. Nevertheless, inequalities of wealth and income are particularly severe, in both international and domestic comparisons. Although wealth and poverty are mediated and expressed in complex ways, the disparities between the very rich and the very poor are established, structured, and growing
Corruption and Mismanagement in Botswana
IndependentBotswana has developed on three main pillars: rapid and sustained economic growth (over the decade to 1992, for example, at 8.4 per cent a year, third-highest among all developing countries, and far in excess of any other in Africa); multi-party or liberal democracy; and an efficient central state, the main features of which have been identified and praised by observers. With growth, an accompanying build-up of a relatively strong gove…
Authoritarian liberalism
(1996). Authoritarian liberalism: A defining characteristic of Botswana. Journal of Contemporary African Studies: Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 29-51
Towards Popular Participation in Botswana
Despitea competitive party system and regular free-and-fair elections, Botswana's polity has been characterised for almost 30 years by considerable authoritarianism focused on the extensive powers of the Presidency and based upon a hierarchical and highly inequitable society.1But pressures have recently arisen within the country for more openness, participation, and equality, and their growing effects were clearly evident in the October 1994 elec…
Accountable to Themselves
While public attention has focused on the stature of Nelson Mandela, there has been at a deeper level in South Africa since 1990 a steep decline in state capacity, and a marked deterioration in democratic practice. The participatory democracy which had so characterised the decade of the 1980s was brought to a sharp end after the return of the nationalist leaders, and the workings of even a liberal, representative democracy have also suffered unde…
Enduring elite democracy in Botswana
Botswana has long been viewed as a 'shining light' of democracy in southern Africa. But, as a predominant party system, where extensive powers are concentrated in the hands of a presidency that is not directly elected by the people, and a record of official discouragement of free expression by the press exists, the polity is characterized by elitism, centralized political power and weak executive accountability. In some democratic aspects Namibia…
The state and extreme poverty in Botswana
The rise of wealth and power within the cattle-owning economy of Botswana has been accompanied by the creation of poverty and weakness. The impoverishment of the San and ‘destitutes’ was a structured, comprehensive, and long-term process, caused less by phenomena such as periodic drought than by an elite of economic and political power, and the exploitation which they practised. The growth economy of recent decades has not ameliorated the situati…
Anthropologists Debate Future of War
An African Miracle
Routinized Injustice
Not the least of the difficulties faced by the San is that they are a ‘people without history’, without a single self-given name, and with no accurate information in Botswana even of their numbers. 1 Their history was appropriated by conquerors, and their names are those of their masters and governors; all to varying degrees terms of abuse. Popular and official usage in recent decades is reliant upon Basarwa, supplemented since 1974 by the govern…
Autocratic Elites and Enfeebled Masses
Botswana is an established liberal democracy in existence since pre-independence elections in 1965. Open, competitive, free and fairly fair elections occur regularly. The rule of law is generally upheld, though not necessarily equally available to all in every sphere. Good levels of rationality and efficiency commonly prevail in government and the private sector. Corruption occurs among the ruling elite in the nexus that exists between government…
The Liberal Model and Africa
This book critically examines the realities of liberal democracy; its elitism and non-accountability; and its inequalities and injustices. Participatory systems and movements, whether in Athens, seven
Political science (38 works) · Law (27 works) · Economics (26 works) · Politics (25 works) · Law (22 works) · Development economics (21 works) · Sociology (21 works) · African history and culture studies (19 works) · Political economy (17 works) · Democracy (16 works)