SOC 122 REVISION NOTES: TEST 3

POLITICAL INSTITUTION

Is the social structure concerned with the use and distribution of power within a given society,
sets a society‘s agenda and makes decisions. Participants in the political system maintain social
order and enact changes in the legal structure. Those with power – in a democratic political
system - are said to act with the consent of the governed to maintain social order.

Max Weber sees power as the ability to achieve desired ends despite resistance from others.
Power is wielded by government, Government is defined as a formal organization that

directs the political life of a society.

•Power can be classified into three broad categories: Coercion, authority and Influence

a) Coercion:
 Exercise of power through force or the threat of force
 The threat may be physical, financial or social injury
 Power through coercion may or may not be legitimatised by norms and values.

b)Authority: Is the power supported by norms and values that legitimate its use. Those who
have authority have the right to make decisions and their subordinates have the duty to obey.

Max Weber identified three ideal types of authority:

i) Traditional Authority:
- Right to make decisions that is based on the sanctity of time-honoured routines/power
conferred by custom and accepted practices.
- Examples – monarchies, chieftainship [in Botswana] and patriarchies
ii) Rational Legal Authority:
- Right to make decisions that is based on rationally established rules and regulations.
iii) Charismatic Authority:
- Right to make decisions that is based on perceived extraordinary personal characteristics /
abilities that inspire devotion and obedience.
- Charismatic leaders often arise when deep-seated problems exist within a society. Their
mission usually involves an effort to change society and eliminate social problems.
-Examples: Malcolmx, Mao Tse-Tung, Fidel Castro, Adolph Hitler, Gandhi etc.
-May be very powerful. However, by nature, it is an unstable form of power; it resides in an
individual and is therefore mortal.
-Because it is inherently unstable, charismatic authority must undergo a process of routinization
of charisma in which it is transformed into a combination of traditional and rational-legal
authority.
c) Influence:
- Is related to but different from power. It refers to the ability to affect others‘ decisions through
persuasion and personal appeals.
- It is not institutionalised, rests on individual appeals based on personal or ideological grounds
rather than structure.

II. THE STATE AS A POLITICAL INSTITUTION

• The state is the social structure that successfully claims a monopoly on the legitimate use of
coercion and physical force within a territory.
It is usually distinguished from other political institutions by two characteristics:
1. a) Its jurisdiction for legitimate decision-making is broader than that of other institutions
2. b) It controls the use of coercion in society.

Jurisdiction:

- States have been considered to be responsible for:

a) Setting collective goals

b) Gathering resources (taxes, draftees etc.) to meet collective goals
c) Arbitrating relationships among the parts of society
d) Maintaining relationships within other societies.

Coercion:

- State claims a monopoly on the legitimate use of coercion

- State uses three primary types of coercion:
a) Police power - the claim a monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force.
b) It uses taxation as a form of legitimated confiscation
c) State is the only unit in society that can legally maintain an armed force and that is
empowered to deal with foreign powers.
-To fulfil the above functions, the state devises and utilises a variety of social structures. Two of
such basic political forms are democracy and authoritarian systems.

Politics in Global Perspective.

As the political institution expanded, the political state emerged.
1. The earliest political states were city-states.
2. The modern world is characterized by nation-states.
Monarchy is a type of political system that transfers power from generation to generation in a
single family. Earlier monarchies were absolute. Modern ones are generally constitutional, with
the monarch being little more than a symbolic head of state.

Democracy: A political system in which power is exercised by the people as a whole.

- A political system that provides regular, constitutional opportunities for a change in leadership
according to the will of the majority.
Characterised by two basic groups:

i) The group in power

ii) One or more legal opposition groups that are trying to get into power

- Democracy is most likely to flourish when three general conditions are met: a) Competing
interest groups:

The fracturing of a population into competing groups has two vital consequences for democracy:

- No one single group can win a majority of votes without negotiating and compromising with
other groups to build a coalition
- Since each group is, by itself, a minority group, effective safeguards for minority political
groups are in the interest of everybody.

b) Absence of fundamental cleavages

- Democracy requires that interest groups have basically compatible values. When groups
emerge that are not merely competitive but bitterly opposed to the existence of one another, they
are not likely to abide to the rules of the game. [Case of. Multiparty Politics in most of Africa]

c) Economic Development:
- Contemporary democracy is found almost exclusively in the wealthier nations of the world.
Economic development is, in fact, one of the best predictors of stable democratic government.

Democracies are generally representative rather than fully participatory.

Affluent industrial societies tend to be democracies.
Modern democracies are characterized by extensive bureaucracies and economic inequalities.

Democracy and freedom: capitalist and socialist approaches.

Capitalist societies define freedom as political liberty.
Socialist societies see freedom as satisfaction of basic economic needs.

Authoritarianism is a political system that denies popular participation in government.

Political systems in which the leadership is not selected by the people and legally cannot be
changed by them. Sometimes referred to as dictatorships, military juntas, despotisms,
monarchies, theocracies etc.

Totalitarianism is a highly centralized political system that extensively regulates people‘s lives.

The rise of multinational corporations, the information revolution, and the growth of
nongovernmental organizations all suggest that a global political system may be emerging.
Legitimacy of the State
- The stability of any political system, democratic or authoritarian, depends on the degree to
which it is supported by society‘s norms and values. This is termed legitimacy.
- Where legitimacy is high, the state can govern by authority. Lack of legitimacy, on the other
hand makes the state fragile and unstable. It has to turn to coercion (e.g., police harassment and
brutality, detention without trial etc) rather than authority to govern.

III THEORETICAL ANALYSES OF POWER IN SOCIETY

• Social scientists have developed varied conceptions about political structure. These include the
following:
a) Pluralist Model:
- Views power as dispersed among many competing groups. They see politics as an arena of
negotiation and that it has many sources. This is compatible with the structural functionalist
approach.

Proponents argue that if power is dispersed then:

i) Power will be controlled and limited to decent purposes because different centres will
counterbalance each other
ii) Minorities, who will have power to veto policies they strongly oppose, will be partners in the
exercise of power and therefore be more co-operative in the long run.
iii) Constant negotiations among different power centres will be necessary to reach resolutions
on political issues. The process of negotiation will provide those engaged in politics with
opportunities for learning how to reach peaceful decisions beneficial to all parties in contention.
- A vital part of the pluralist model is the existence of shifting allegiances. That is, different
coalitions of interest groups arise from each decision.

b) Power Elite Model:

- is an analysis of politics that views power as concentrated in the hands a small – organized
elite.
- It is linked with the social-conflict approach.
- It disputes the pluralist argument by emphasising that a group of high-status people - the well-
educated, often wealthy and placed in high occupational positions - control power in society.
- These individuals termed the POWER ELITE, ―... accept one another, understand one
another, marry one another, tend to work and think alike.
- C. Wright Mills developed this view. He visualised three levels of Society in America:
i) The Power Elite – the top level
ii) The Middle Level – The white-collar employees. The level is dominated by the
corporatists and the government agencies for which they work. Have little or no control
over their own lives.
iii) Bottom Level: Is the mass of society. Have no access to power and influence.

c) Political Economy/Dialectic Model

The Marxist political-economy model is an analysis that explains politics in terms of the
operation of a society's economic system.
- Is the Marxian model. Views power as concentrated in the hands of those who own the means
of production – the capitalists or bourgeoisie.
- Argues that this branch of the elite has subordinated all other elites. Unlike the power elite
model, the Marxian model argues that tension exists between the elite and non-elites.
- This tension will lead to change.

Colonialism and Political Organization in African Countries

Colonialism was proceeded by the partitioning of Africa among European powers. After the
Berlin and Brussels Conferences (of 1884 and 1890, respectively) new boundaries emerged in
African curving the various spheres of influence for different European powers.
White rule in Africa took either of two forms: Direct rule of indirect rule. Those who practised
direct rule e.g. the British were interested in establishing a strong political structure within
colonies that would oversee the exploitation of resources.

On the other hand, indirect rule (e.g. French) sought to maximise resource exploitation without
putting in place a meaningful political structure. Rather, they preferred to rely on the local people
to administer the colonies.
A closer look at Africa, especially Sub-Saharan Africa reveals that, one of the lasting political
effects of colonialization has been the colonial practice of divide and rule.

Colonial rule particularly in directly administered colonies, emphasised division of Africans

along ethnic lines with the objective to control and manipulate. In certain instances e.g. Rwanda
and Burundi what were once a subordinate people (the Tutsi) were elevated to become the
dominant groups.

Attempts to create nations out of such groups after independence, appear to have failed in some
cases. Such failure has translated into ethnic rivalries, fighting, massacres, genocide etc. that are
too familiar across Sub-Saharan Africa. The Hutu-Tutsi conflict in Rwanda and Burundi in
illustrative.

The divisions that characterized ethnic groups in most of Africa during the colonial period
manifested themselves in political partier that emerged just prior to independence and after. For
most of Africa political parties emerged along ethnic lines. In some cases e.g. in Kenya minority
groups banded together to counter possible domination by majority ethnic groups. This situation
has been aggravated by post-colonial political practices in which resources are distributed along
ethnic lines rather than on the basis of need. In such circumstances controlling the highest
political office in the land means having access to economic resources, goods jobs, high prestige
etc. Political transition (succession) in such situations generally involves conflict (silent or
active) between ethnic groups. As the group controlling the presidency struggles to maintain its
group, other groups struggle to ascend that high office and reap the economic and social benefits
associated with it.

The Case of Botswana

As pointed out earlier, Botswana was never colonized in the sense most of Africa was The
British never developed any meaningful political structure within Botswana itself. What political
control was exercised, was done from outside the country; in the South African town of
Mafikeng. Politically, it can be argued that the nature of colonialism experienced by Botswana
was a blessing of sorts for the country.

The divide and rule tactics of colonialism that have continued to plague post independence
African nations never emerged in Botswana. As such Botswana has not experienced ethnically
based social problems and especially racial and ethnic conflict.

This does not mean that ethnicity is not an issue in Botswana. Rather, we are arguing that friction
between ethnic groups has been insignificant and for the most part silent.
It is also important for us to note the form of democracy that Botswana adopted at independence.
The country opted for a multi-party democracy that has been credited for the political stability in
the country. However, the BDP has been the dominant party, making Botswana‘s democracy
appear like a single party democracy. In addition, the presidency in Botswana enjoys a lot of
powers that can be subject to abuse this leading to social problems such as human rights abuse,
corruption and nepotism.

With respect to ethnicity and politics Botswana also presents a rather unique case. Like other
African countries, the country comprises of multiple ethnic groups (is ethnically heterogeneous).
However, unlike most other Africa countries:

• Since independence (1966), Botswana has presented a typical case of what Horowitz (1985:22)
refers to as a system of unranked groups. Virtually all ethnic groups have regarded each other as
equals (Holm and Molutsi 1992) and there has been virtually no arrogance on the part of a
particular group.This was the case until recently when a debate surrounding ethnic relations in
the country sparked off a presidential commission to revisit the question within the context of the
constitution.

• The country has been 'free of divisive struggles that surround ethnically based politics' (Solway
1994: 225). It has enjoyed political stability and a relative peaceful co-existence between
different ethnic groups that has kept the ethnic tensions and conflict characteristic of most other
African countries in check. In Botswana political support along ethnic lines is mainly existent in
rural areas where victory for political parties may be based more on ethnic constituencies than on
any other factor.

The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) for example has dominated the politics of Botswana
because of its ethnically grounded rural support. Nevertheless, ethnic allegiance to political
parties in Botswana is not driven by inherent ethnic competition for scarce national resources
like in other African countries. The primary purpose for people of similar ethnicity to join the
same political party is not to increase the group's chance of ascending the presidency and
influencing national development policy decisions.
It would be more correct to argue that political parties in Botswana have coalesced along a rural-
urban dichotomy. The Botswana National Front [BNF] is mainly the party of the urban residents
while the Botswana Democratic Party [BDP] is the party of the (rural) masses; at least at the
level of ordinary membership.

Referring specifically to voting patterns, Molutsi (1998:366-67) indicated that "communities in

Botswana have voted for local leaders based on ethnic identity rather than for national leaders
and national issues." He argues that both minority tribes (such as the Bakalanga, Subia,
Humbukushi, Yei Mabanderu and Basarawa) and majority Batswana tribes have all voted for
ethnic leadership.

What distinguishes the Botswana situation from other African countries is that here voting along
ethnic lines has occurred for reasons different from those in other countries. In countries such as
Kenya voting along ethnic lines by minority tribes has been driven by desire to control the
presidency and therefore the national agenda and resources.

In Botswana, on the contrary, minority tribes have had to vote along ethnic lines because most of
these groups found themselves residing in geographical territories occupied by one or another of
the major ethnic groups (Molutsi, 1998). This type of arrangement is said to have led to the
assimilation, subordination and subjugation of the majority groups. Further more, chiefs who
represent tribal interests play a major role in influencing voting patterns in rural Botswana.
Because of this, people are inclined to vote the party their chief is sympathetic to. For instance,
people vote for the BDP on account of its being the party of their chief, Sir Seretse Khama
(Molutsi, 1998). It is perhaps on the strength of this fact that the BDP decided to co-opt and
appoint to the position of Vice President Ian Khama, the first son of Sir Seretse Khama, just
before the 1999 elections with a view to strengthening party unity and improving its prospects
for winning the elections.

The move, aided by the split in the opposition, appears to have paid dividends as the BDP
regained much of the ground it had lost to the opposition BNF during the 1994 elections.
Currently, the BDP appears to have identified the fielding of chiefs in newly demarcated
constituencies as a sure way to victory during the coming elections in 2004.

THE ECONOMY AND WORK

Objectives

1) Define the economy.

2) Identify and discuss ways that the Industrial Revolution changed the economy.
3) Trace the changes that occurred as the economy moved from an industrial to a postindustrial
model.
4) Identify and define three sectors of a modern economy.
5) Compare and contrast the two economic models of capitalism and socialism.
6) Distinguish between socialism and communism.
7) Examine the relative advantages of capitalism and socialism, especially with regard to
productivity and the distribution of income.
8) Discuss some of the recent trends in the composition of the labor force.
9) Distinguish between the primary and secondary labor markets.
11) Understand some of the reasons why labor unions are presently in decline.
12) Identify the characteristics of a profession and discuss the contemporary trend toward
professionalization.
13) Examine the severity of unemployment.
14) Discuss the segments of contributors to the underground economy.
15) Identify ways that computers are changing the workplace.
16) Recognize the extent of economic concentration in the contemporary United States.
17) Explain how large corporations are linked, including conglomerate formation an
interlocking directorates.
18) Define the concepts of monopoly and oligopoly and discuss the extent to which large
corporations are no longer engaged in competitive economic activity.
19) Examine the global scale on which mega-corporations currently operate.

The Economy: Historical Overview.

A. The economy is the social institution that organizes a society‘s production, distribution, and
consumption of goods and services.
B. The agricultural revolution led to a dramatic expansion of the economy as a result of:

1. Agricultural technology.
2. Productive specialization.
3. Permanent settlements.
4. Trade.

C. The Industrial Revolution.

1. Industrialization changed the economy in five ways.

a. New forms of energy.

b. Centralization of work in factories.
c. Manufacturing and mass production.
d. Specialization.
e. Wage labor.

ECONOMIC INSTITUTION

Historically and cross-culturally there are three major types of economic systems:

Pre-industrial Economic Systems:

- These are characteristic of simple societies.

These economies display the following characteristics:

a) Production units are small and settlements are small and widely dispersed
b) Major sources of energy are human and animal power
c) The vast majority of the labour force is engaged in primary production;
 -that is, the extracting of raw materials from the environment e.g., farming, herding, hunting
and mining.

ii. Industrial Economic Structures

- These are mainly characterised by:

1. a) Large and bureaucratically organised work units

2. b) Reliance on new sources of energy (gasoline, electricity, coal, steam) rather than
muscle power
c) A shift to secondary production or the processing of raw materials.

This leads to a growing surplus that, although unequally distributed, leads to better education,
health and a high standard of living for the population as a whole.
- Also accompanied by some less desirable changes and especially:

a) Population growth
b) The assault on the environment
c) The growth of cities

iii. Post Industrial Economic structures

A postindustrial economy refers to a productive system based on service work and extensive use
of information technology.
- Mainly concerned with the production of information and services (or tertiary production)
- Occupations within the tertiary sector include physicians, schoolteachers, police officers,
computer programmers, etc.
- Production is not counted in barrels or tons but in the numbers of satisfied customers.

Since 1950, the Information Revolution has dramatically transformed U.S. society.

1. From tangible products to ideas.

2. From mechanical skills to literacy skills.
3. From factories to almost anywhere.

Sectors of the economy:

1. The primary sector is the part of the economy that generates raw materials directly from the
natural environment.
2. The secondary sector is the part of the economy that transforms raw materials into
manufactured goods.
3. The tertiary sector is the part of the economy involved in services rather than goods.

F. Recent decades have witnessed the emergence of a global economy, expanding economic
activity with little regard for national borders.
The development of a global economy has four major consequences:
1. There is a global division of labor by which each region of the world specializes in particular
kinds of economic activity:

In the United States, Canada, the countries of Western Europe, Australia, and Japan, about two-
thirds of the labor force perform service work.
2. An increasing number of products pass through the economies of more than one nation.
3. Governments can no longer fully control the economic activity that takes place within their
borders.
4. A small number of businesses control a vast share of the world‘s economic activities.

II. Comparative Economic Systems: Paths to Justice

• The modern World is characterised by two major types of economic systems: Capitalism: Is an
economic system in which natural resources and the means of producing goods and services
( wealth) are privately owned and used by its owners to maximize their own gain.
- Ideally, capitalism has the following features:

1. a) Private ownership of property

2. b) Pursuit of personal profit
3. c) (Free) competition and consumer sovereignty (choice)

- Although very productive, a capitalist economy has two major drawbacks:

a) It neglects aspects of distribution. Those who have nothing to exchange (neither labour nor
capital) are left outside of the market.
b) Pure capitalism does not provide for public goods e.g. streets, sewers, defence etc.

Socialism: An economic system in which productive tools (natural resources such as land) and
the means of producing goods and services (labour and capital) are collectively owned and
managed by workers and used for the collective good.

- Ideally socialism has the following features:

a) Collective ownership of property

b) Pursuit of collective good
c) Government control of the economy

- In theory socialism has the following advantages:

a) Societal resources can be used for the benefit of society as a whole rather than for individuals
b) Central Planning: resources are controlled by the group. They can, therefore, be deployed to
reach group goals.
c) It produces equitable (though not necessarily equal) distribution.
Hence the creed of pure socialism:
"From each according to ability and to each according to need".

Question: Why Have Most Socialist Economic Structures Failed? Relative advantages of
capitalism and socialism:

1. Capitalist societies are considerably more economically productive.

2. Socialist societies display considerably less income and wealth disparity.
3. Statistics are not enough to compare overall well-being in either system.
4. Capitalist countries are characterized by more civil liberties and political freedom.

Recently the socialist societies have undergone sweeping changes. Among the reasons:

1. Their economies were unable to produce enough to allow their citizens an adequate standard
of living.
2. Their governments were heavy-handed and unresponsive.

Other Economic Systems:

a) Communism: A hypothetical economic and political system in which all members of the
society are socially equal. No society has ever achieved true communism.
b) Democratic Socialism: An economic and political system that combines significant
government control of the economy with free elections. Found in some European nations.
c) State Capitalism: An economic and political system in which companies are privately owned
though they co-operate closely with the government.

Welfare capitalism
- an economic and political system that combines a mostly market-based economy with
extensive social welfare programs.It is found in some European nations.

Work in The Post-industrial Economy

• The transformation of the economy from agricultural to industrial (manufacturing) then to post-
industrial is usually accompanied by a transformation in work from a agricultural work to factory
work and then onward to service work.
• The change from factory to service jobs manifests a shifting balance between two categories of
work and hence a dual labour market:

i) The Primary Labour Market:

- Includes occupations that provide extensive benefits to workers. Here are found white-collar
professions and high management positions. Employment in the primary labour market is
characterised by:

a) High income/pay
b) Personally challenging and intrinsically satisfying jobs
c) Job security
d) Internal Labour markets (career paths/promotional or ladders).
ii) Secondary Labour Market:
- Jobs providing minimal benefits to workers.
- Jobs are mainly blue-collar requiring low skills.
Some are low-level white-collar jobs e.g. clerical positions.
Employment in the secondary labour market is characterised by:
a) Low pay
b) Lack of job security
c) Dead-end jobs - no promotional opportunities
d) Alienating and dissatisfying jobs which are also routinised.
• Most jobs in the post-industrial economy fall within the secondary labour market.

An Illustration

A. In 2004, a total of 139 million people in the United States were working for income.
B. The decline of agricultural work. The family farms of yesterday have been replaced by
corporate agribusinesses.
C. From factory work to service work. Many jobs in this postindustrial era provide only a
modest standard of living.

Labor unions - are organizations of workers that seek to improve wages and working conditions
by using various strategies, including negotiations and strikes.

American unions have been losing members in recent years and are much weaker than their
counterparts in other advanced societies.

A profession is a prestigious, white-collar occupation that requires extensive formal education.

Professions display the following characteristics:

1. Theoretical knowledge.
2. Self-regulated practice.
3. Authority over clients.
4. Community orientation rather than self-interest.

Self-employment, once common in the U.S., is now rare.

Unemployment and underemployment are major problems in postindustrial societies. The
underground economy
- is economic activity involving income that one does not report to the Government
required by law.

Computers are altering the character of work in several ways:

1. Computers are deskilling labor.

2. Computers are making work more abstract.
3. Computers limit workplace interaction.
 4. Computers increase employers‘ control of workers.
5. Computers allow companies to relocate work.

Corporations

At the core of today‘s capitalist economy lies the corporation,

= an organization with a legal existence, including rights and liabilities, apart from those of their
members.

The corporate economy is highly concentrated, with a few large firms holding most assets and
earning most of the profits.

Conglomerates and corporate linkages.

Conglomerates are giant corporations composed of many smaller corporations.
An interlocking directorate is a social network of people who serve simultaneously on the boards
of directors of many corporations.

Monopoly is the illegal domination of a market by a single producer.

Oligopoly is the domination of a market by a few producers. It is common.
The (federal) government seeks to regulate corporations in order to protect the public interest.

Corporations and the global economy.

Corporations are now responsible for most of the world‘s economic output. Corporations now
view the entire world as one vast marketplace.

TRANSFORMATION OF AFRICAN ECONOMIES

• Central to our understanding of African economies is the process of colonization. Colonization

led to the emergence of new economic and political structures within

African countries whose impacts were to extend to the post colonial period.
Broadly speaking, for virtually all African countries, economic restructuring due to colonization
involved the following:
i) The transformation from traditional to capitalist modes of production.

The new economies had the following characteristics:

a) Narrow economic bases: The economies mainly relied on a single commodity (monoculture).
b) Specialization in the export of raw materials for processing in industries based in

Europe and North America.

ii) Global and regional integration of African economies:

Through colonization, African economies became linked with those of the industrialised West
serving the role of provision of cheap raw materials.
This process has been extended through the process of neocolonization whose main objective has
been to protect the economic (and strategic) interests of former colonizers. Overtime, the world
has slowly evolved into a small global village with a common market (the world market).

The world market, however, is not a market of equals. Some - the rich nations(most of them
former colonial powers) - enjoy a comparative advantage over others usually the poor nations of
which Africa is overrepresented.

In this market, the economically powerful nations control the pricing of commodities and the
general terms of trades.
This has led to a situation in which the economically weak continue to be exploited by rich.

In the words of dependency theorists, a core-periphery economic relationship exists in which

Western countries (the core) develop by exploiting the resources found in developing countries
(the periphery).
Some dependency scholars have suggested that unless these economies delink from those of the
industrialised nations, they will continue to be underdevelopment. This position constitutes a
moot issue.

iii) Multinationalization:

Closely related to the globalization process, is the process of multinationalization which, like
globalization, is said to adversely affect African and other poor nations.

It refers to the process whereby huge capitalist corporations extend their marketing and
processing/manufacturing efforts throughout the world with the objective to maximise profits by
taking advantage of cheap labor, the lack of environmental and other forms of regulation, and
existing markets in developing countries.

This form of development has very limited economic benefits for the developing countries, it is
an exploitative process whose benefits only accrue to the industrialized nations.
To understand especially economic based social problems such as inequalities in income and
wealth, poverty and unemployment, we need to focus on the new economic structures developed
due to colonization, the emergence of a global economy, and the extension of activities by
multinational corporations into developing countries.

These trends combined could be held responsible for conditions such as:

1. a) Dwindling national incomes

2. b) Rising indebtedness
3. c) Economic marginalization
4. d) Declining provision of social and welfare services
5. e) Unemployment
6. f) Poor health - malnutrition, hunger/starvation
7. g) Poverty and misery
8. h) Political instabilities (e.g. Ethnic wars/civil wars, Military coups etc.)
THE BOTSWANA CASE

After 80 years as a British Protectorate, Botswana attained self-government in 1965 and became
a republic in 1966 as one of the poorest countries in Africa.
The overwhelmingly rural population depended mainly on agriculture for their livelihood.
Agriculture, more so cattle ranching, was the dominant economic activity and beef production
formed the mainstay of the economy in terms of output and export earnings (Botswana
Government, 1991, 1997). Botswana also lacked meaningful social overhead capital on which
she could build a strong economy. The absence of proper infrastructural facilities could be
viewed as being partly responsible for Botswana‘s relatively small economic value at
independence. The lack of a strong infrastructural base was compounded by other factors such as
climate/ecological factors and the land locked nature of the country. The economic situation in
Bechuanaland (Botswana) was aggravated by the nature of colonialism that the country
experienced. The British never developed a strong economic interest on Botswana because they
never considered her to be of any economic value. Consequently, Botswana was subjected to
indirect rule. Unlike in most other African countries, Botswana achieved independence without
any meaningful social overhead capital on which the country could build a strong economy

At independence (in 1966) the new government of Botswana inherited one of the poorest
countries.

Existing economic development opportunities, and the near total lack of infrastructural facilities
necessary for economic development, presented the new government with big challenge and
became a seed bed for some of the problems facing Botswana today - such as unemployment and
poverty.

The lack of a strong industrial base, for example, has led to a situation in which the public sector,
and the service sector - banking, finance, retailing etc. - remain the dominant consumes of labour
in the country.
However, since the late 1960s Botswana has recorded impressive economic growth due to the
discovery and exploitation of mineral deposits.

During the 1960s and 1970s Botswana discovered diamonds in Orapa and developed a copper-
nickel mine at Selibe-Phikwe.
Thereafter Letlhakane and Jwaneng diamond mining projects were opened.
These have led to expanded mineral production and also stimulated infrastructure development.

The mining sector has, since the early 1970s, dominated the economy.
The gross domestic product (GDP) rose from Botswana Pula 36.8 million in 1966 to

Botswana Pula 997.1 million in 1982/83 (Silitshena, 1990).

During the 1991/92 to 1995/96 Botswana‘s average annual growth rate in GDP was 12 percent
or more except for 1992/93 when it stood at 9 rate of 21.8 percent was recorded during 1993/94
followed by 16.8 percent during 1995/96.
For the period 1997/98 to 2002/03 the annual growth rate in GDP is estimated at 13.6 percent
(Botswana Government, 1997). Other factors such as the rapid expansion of the national herd
and beef exports have also contributed to Botswana‘s post-independence economic boom.
Although Botswana has experienced considerable economic growth since independence, the
nature of this growth clearly reflects the colonial legacy evident across most of Africa.
Botswana, like most other African countries boasts a narrow based economy that is dominated
by a single commodity. At independence, agriculture, and especially cattle ranching, was the
dominant economic activity. The discovery of diamonds in the 1960s and 1970s, however,
turned things around. Diamond, today is Botswana‘s leading commodity contributing about 80%
of the total exports. The mining sector, particularly diamond sales, is the leading contributor to
GDP in Botswana. While in 1977/78 it contributed only 16 percent, by 1982/83 its share had
risen to 31 percent (Botswana Government, 1991).

By 1988/89, the mining sector contributed about 51 percent of Botswana‘s GDP. However, as
other sectors such as government, finance, business services and trade began to make significant
contributions to the economy, its contribution to the GDP began to decline and was estimated at
33 percent during 1994/95 (Botswana Government, 1997). But it still remains the dominant
sector.

Being the leading economic sector in Botswana, mining also contributes the bulk of the
country‘s total exports.By 1983 it contributed about 66 percent of all exports. This proportion
rose to 84 percent in 1987. Over the years, the sector‘s contribution to exports has declined as
efforts to diversify the economy are intensified. For instance, its average annual contribution to
the total exports dropped to 76 percent between 1990-1995 (Botswana Government, 1997).
Today Botswana is the third largest exporter of raw (unprocessed) diamond in the world with
exports averaging about US$ 1.3 billion per annum. Although the country now boasts two
diamonds cutting and polishing factories at Serowe and Molepolole, these factories must import
the diamonds they use because of the nature of diamond sales agreements that Botswana has
entered into.

Like the rest of most other African countries, Botswana‘s post-colonial economic development
has mainly been based on the export of unprocessed products.
This trend is a continuation of the colonial legacy of colonies as sources of cheap raw materials
for industries in North America and Europe. Botswana, for example, is the third largest exporter
of diamonds in the world with exports averaging about US$1.3 billion per annum. The diamonds
are sold abroad unprocessed. That is, in the same state as they appear in nature. Although the
country now boasts two diamonds cutting and polishing factories at Serowe and Molepolole,
these factories must import the diamonds they use because of the nature of diamond sales
agreements that Botswana has entered into.In addition, Botswana, to say the least, has not been
spared from the effects of globalization and regionalisation.

The economy is heavily dependent on the global and regional economies to absorb its products.
For Botswana, the situation is compounded further by the limited local market and the low
productivity recorded locally. Regionally, Botswana‘s future is inextricably linked with that of
Southern African neighbours with South Africa being Botswana‘s major trading partner. Indeed,
Botswana‘s economy is dependent on South Africa for imports, investments, and technical skills;
for communications with the outside world, and to some extent, for employment and training
purposes. Economic downswings in South Africa are therefore likely to affect Botswana through
increased prices of consumer goods and, as often is the case, the devaluation of the local
currency (Pula).

Botswana‘s economic dependency on the Southern African region for consumption and capital
goods can be understood in terms of 80 years of economic integration with especially South
Africa and Zimbabwe starting with the 1910 Customs Unions Agreement (SACU); and the
customs agreement with the former countries of the Central African Federation. Unfortunately,
such treaties resulted in Botswana importing many of its consumption and capital goods from its
neighbours at inflated, protected prices.

Today SADC remains the major economic integrative body in which Botswana is a signatory.

SOCIAL CHANGE: TRADITIONAL

Objectives

1) Define social change and describe characteristics of the process of social change.

2) Examine causes of social change: culture, social structure, ideas, the natural
environment, and demographics.

3) Define modernity and identify four characteristics of modernization.

4) Compare and contrast the theories of Tonnies, Durkheim, Weber, and Marx on
modernization.

5) Distinguish between mass and class analyses of modernity.

6) Discuss David Riesman‘s notion that modernization brings changes in social

character.

7) Identify and describe five major themes of personality.

Modern, and Postmodern Societies

I. What Is Social Change?

Social change is the transformation of culture and social institutions over time. It has four
general characteristics:

A. Social change happens all the time and everywhere.

B. Social change is sometimes intentional but often unplanned.
C. Social change is controversial.
D. Some changes matter more than others.

II. Causes of Social Change.

Causes of Social Change include the following:
a) Invention – the combination of exisitng cultural items into a form that did not previously
exist.
b) Discovery – the process of making known or sharing the existence of an aspect of reality.
c) Diffusion – the process by which a cultural item is spread from group to group or society to
society.

A. Tension and conflict within a society can also produce change.

B. As Max Weber demonstrated in his analysis of the origins of capitalism, ideas may

promote social change.

D. Demographic factors such as population growth, shifts in the composition of a population, or
migration also influence social change.

III. Modernity.
Modernity consists of social patterns linked to industrialization. Modernization is the process of
social change initiated by industrialization.
A. Peter Berger notes four major characteristics of modernization:

1. The decline of small, traditional communities.

2. The expansion of personal choice.
3. Increasing social diversity.
4. Future orientation and growing awareness of time.

B. Ferdinand Tönnies interpreted modernization as a loss of community, or the decline of

Gemeinschaft and the rise of Gesellschaft.
1. Critical review. This approach synthesizes the various dimensions of change, but says little
about cause and effect and may be seen as romanticizing traditional societies.
C. Emile Durkheim stressed that modernization involved an increased division of labor
(specialized economic activity, and a shift from mechanical to organic solidarity).
1. Critical review. Anomie does seem to be a problem in modern societies, but shared values
and norms have by no means disappeared in modern societies.
D. Max Weber analyzed modernization as the replacement of tradition with rationality. 1.
Critical review. Conflict theorists would argue that the real problem is social inequality, not
rational bureaucracy.
E. Karl Marx analyzed modernization as the ascendancy of industrial capitalism. He anticipated
a socialist revolution that would lead to an egalitarian society.
1. Critical review. Marx underestimated the significance of bureaucracy in shaping all modern
societies, capitalist or socialist.

IV. Theoretical Analysis of Modernity.

Among the theories that have sought to analyse social change are:
a) Evolutionary Theory
- Views society as moving in a definite direction. Early evolutionary theorists generally agreed
that society was inevitably progressing to a higher state.
- The writings of August Comte, and Emile Durkheim are examples of unilinear evolutionary
theory which contends that all societies pass through the same successive stages of evolution and
inevitably reach the same end.
- Contemporary evolutionary theorists such as Gerhard Lenski Jr. are however more likely to
view social change as multilinear.

- Multilinear evolutionary theory holds that change can occur in several ways and that it does not
inevitably lead in the same direction.

A. Structural-functional theory:

Talcott Parsons- a leading proponent of functionalist theory viewed society naturally as being in
a state of equilibrium. According to his Equilibrium model, as changes occur in one part of
society, there must be adjustment in other parts. Parsons‘ approach explicitly incorporates the
evolutionary notion of continuing progress. However, the dominant theme is balance and
stability.

Structural functionalists view modernity as mass society. A mass society is a society in which
industry and an expanding bureaucracy have eroded traditional social ties.
This occurs for two principal reasons:

1. The scale of life has increased greatly in mass society.

2. The state has also expanded tremendously. These two developments leave people with
little control over their lives.

Critical review. Mass-society theory romanticizes the past and pays little attention to problems
of social inequality.

B. Social-conflict theory: Modernity as class society.

a) Conflict Theory
- Conflict theorists contend that social institutions and practices continue because powerful
groups have the ability to maintain the status quo.
- Change, they argue has crucial significance since it is needed to correct social injustices and
inequalities.
- In contrast to the Functionalist emphasis on stability, Karl Marx argues that conflict is a normal
and desirable aspect of social change.
- Indeed, change must be encouraged as a means of eliminating social inequality.

Conflict theorists view modernity as a class society.

A class society is a capitalist society with pronounced social stratification.

This approach sees social revolution as necessary to eradicate the social inequality that results
from capitalism.
1. Critical review. This approach overlooks the ways in which modern societies have become
more egalitarian. It is unlikely that a centralized economy could cure the ills of modernity.
C. Modernity and the individual.

1. Mass society: Problems of identity.

a. According to David Riesman, modernization brings on changes in social character, personality
patterns common to members of a society.
b. Preindustrial societies are characterized by tradition-directedness, rigid personalities based on
conformity to time-honored ways of living.

c. Modern societies reflect other-directedness, a receptiveness to the latest trends and fashions,
often expressed in the practice of imitating others.
2. Class society: Problems of powerlessness.
a. Herbert Marcuse condemns modern society as irrational because it fails to meet the needs of
many people.

D. Modernity and Progress.

Whether people see change as progress depends on their underlying values.

E. Modernity: Global variation. While it is useful to contrast traditional and modern societies,
the old and the new often coexist in unexpected ways.

V. Postmodernity.
Postmodernity refers to social patterns characteristic of postindustrial societies.

A. Postmodernity encompasses the following five themes:

1. Modernity has failed in important respects.

2. The bright promise of ―progress‖ is fading.
3. Science no longer holds the answers.
4. Cultural debates are intensifying.
5. Social institutions are changing.

B. Critical review. Modernity has raised living standards despite its failings. What are the
alternatives?

VI. Looking Ahead: Modernization and Our Global Future.

A. In global context, modernization theory argues that poverty is caused largely by
traditionalism.
B. Therefore, intervention in the economies of the poorer societies by the advanced nations is
necessary.
C. Dependency theorists respond that the economic reliance of poor societies on rich societies
and on multinational corporations means that poorer societies are unlikely to be able to duplicate
the experiences of the developed societies.
D. THINKING IT THROUGH BOX—Personal Freedom and Social
Responsibility: Can We Have It Both Ways? An individual‘s pursuit of self-interest must be
balanced by a commitment to the larger community.
Resistance to Social Change

- Certain individuals and groups have a stake in maintaining the existing state of affairs and
resisting social change.
- Social Economist Thorstein Veblen coined the term vested interests to refer to those people or
groups who will suffer in the event of social change. In general, those with a disproportionate
share of society‘s wealth, status, and power have a vested interest in preserving the status quo.