The state, *development and the role of local economic systems in southern Africa: A comparative study of Mozambique and Botswana

This dissertation explores the interaction between the local economic systems and state in the process of development of Botswana and Mozambique in a perspective. The study defines such economic systems as local institutions the modern comparative mainly based on indigenous institutions that regulate social and economic organization at the local level. Hence, the debate over local economic systems and their role in development has to occur within the analysis of the nature of the modern African state and the colonial legacy that created it. The issue of continuity is vital to the understanding of legitimacy of development schemes.;Every economic system incorporates rules and conventions as factors of regulation of social and economic relations. The interactions are established, maintained and measured with respect to the type of communal coexistence and individual achievement that is allowed. Therefore, the impact of these institutions and the vitality of their economic systems are analyzed within the space allowed by the state elites within their quest for nation building. Therefore, since the process of development cannot be separated from historical conditions, it only makes sense to look at the impact of the modern state's modernizing policies on the vitality of these local economic systems and how they relate to the quest for legitimacy of the state as a development factor.;The study reviews the role of the chieftaincy since the colonial period. Yet, this study is not about history but utilizes history as a supporting tool to place popular perceptions in context and understand the impact of change or historical institutional continuity on development. It focuses on the postcolonial period and uses an attitude survey to assess popular perceptions of the state and local institutions.