Democratic Decision – Making and Development at the Local Level: Lessons from rural Botswana

This paper attempts to understand the relationship between deliberative democracy, on the one hand, and local or community-level development on the other, with specific reference to Botswana. In essence, the paper seeks to answer the following two questions: Can deliberative democracy and participation make development projects more community-oriented and community-based? To what extent can deliberative democracy and participation at the local level democratise the formulation and implementation of development plans?

formatted-final-botswana-paper-22-01-09.doc — Microsoft Word Document, 637Kb