158 gender, liberated both women and children from the historical and customary tradition of oppression and patriarchy, where the former were regarded as minors who were
dependent on males for various issues: social, economic, cultural and politically. In contrast, respondents in the rural areas more consistently spoke about democracy in a negative way, where it was seen to have destroyed traditional and cultural values. Values of equality, freedom and rights challenged traditional inequalities. The notion that all individuals have equal rights appeared threatening and disrespectful of social cohesion.
159 especially in rural areas, but also in urban areas even with the existence of civil society organisations, while there are also some who engage in policy advocacy work.
There is an element of resistance to change from a patriarchal society to becoming a
democratic society where rights and freedoms are exercised by all individuals alike. This was illustrated by reactions to democracy in relation to children’s rights and gender equality.
New education that has enabled children (and women) to behave differently is blamed on democracy. There is a sense that misinformation about the exercising of children’s rights and legal misinterpretation caused confusion among citizens. The responses heavily blame democracy for eroding culture and for disinformation that is provided by politicians where democracy is seen almost as a villain. The responses have implications for how civic education is provided by the IEC and other providers, where disinformation and
manipulation by politicians is rife because of the absence of civic education, which goes beyond the mere mechanics of voting processes.
The findings demonstrate the need for a democratic society with informed political
participation, well trained civic educators and citizens who can critically challenge the status quo, and thus, help people in their transition from a communitarian focus to a more
deliberative form of democracy. The findings also indicate a need for more open and frank discussion about traditional communitarian values, why they served their purpose and to what extent such values could play a part in a modern democracy. This implies, also, the need for a planned and structured civic education programme, which should play a role in promoting democracy and citizenship by enlarging human choices and voices, while giving correct information, skills and knowledge to a passive electorate.
The findings indicate that there has, however, been some cultural, political and social liberation as a result of democracy. This has been shown where Lesotho has experienced a transition from the social and cultural practices of patriarchy and from the oppressive dictatorship rule to democratic rule, which brought certain freedoms and development, especially to urban citizens who enjoy inclusiveness, equality and freedom of speech, which was not the case in the past. The findings further indicate that democracy is equated with equality and freedom that allows the participation of citizens in issues that affect their lives.
This is reflected in gender equality and the exercising of rights where women are now able
160 to own property and contribute to the household income through employment like their male counterparts. However, efforts to promote good and effective governance in African countries, particularly Lesotho, have currently failed to achieve a synergy between the modern notions of democratic governance and traditional African forms of political and social organisation. These systems are not mutually exclusive. Democratic behaviour must be learnt continually, in families, through mass media, in community based groups and institutions.
Democracy has been understood as reflecting three key issues: as a way of life, as a socio political process and as an outcome. Firstly, as a way of life certain values have to be
exercised socially and culturally by all individuals. However, in this, there is a danger that the traditional African values of botho/ubuntu overemphasised the value of respect that
seemed to have been used by elite politicians to their advantage. The politicians controlled citizens by nurturing their patriotism, loyalty and passivity, as people who obeyed and respected authority, particularly leaders. The value of respect included an element that did not challenge, but cherished adults and authorities such as leaders (Waghid, 2010, 2014).
This was evident after the 2012 elections when the former leader, having lost, pronounced that he had won the elections, but claimed the IEC had cheated him of victory. Moreover, there is evidence in the findings that politicians give false information and mislead people while the latter do not challenge them. What determines the notion of respect is often conflated with obedience in African contexts. Hence, the culture of silence is deep-rooted, thus supressing the critical minds of the populace.
Secondly, democracy has been understood as a socio-political process where the activity of electing representative leaders is undertaken by different individuals in society who also exercise their political rights. Comparatively, African perspective of botho/ubuntu seems to be viewed differently by African countries and therefore is enacted and understood
differently by citizens, while political elites seem to have used it in order to control citizens to their advantage. The fact that botho/ubuntu stresses the idea that ‘a person is a person through other persons’, which means the interdependency and connectedness of the individual with others, has limited the thinking capacity of most individual citizens to act individually. It suggests they would rather opt for acting in concert with others, including when there is a need to challenge the status quo. This is evident in the silence of citizens
161 and civil society organisations in the face of the abusive governance by politicians. Civic education providers showed their awareness of unjust practices by politicians, but also did not exercise their responsibilities of challenging controversial action by political elites. It seems, therefore, that generalisations were made about ideas related to botho/ubuntu in terms of values of respect for self and others.
Third and lastly, democracy is seen as an outcome, which reflects the political rule where leaders exercise their authority of governing a country. This is where citizens are included only in the decision of voting for their representative leaders. This means that citizens elect leaders to govern, but without the involvement in how those leaders should govern, which ought to happen by public participation in developing policies that affect their lives and interests.
Nevertheless, it has been observed that education in general and civic education in particular has not brought the populace properly into a liberal or republican form of
democracy where representatives are elected to look after community interests. Likewise, if citizens are able to exercise their rights and freedoms, then this has to be seen within the context of responsibility and active participation in policy decision making. This suggests that civic education should bridge the gap between traditional and modern practices. This lack of proper education has affected the Basotho’s citizenship identity in several ways where there has been a paradigm shift from cultural values of team work and collectivism to notions of freedom and individuality amongst citizens.
The next chapter presents the findings on how the respondents of the study understand the concept of citizenship. Responses from ordinary citizens, civic educators and community leaders are illustrated to support the themes that were derived from the data. The data has shown that democracy is a concept that is well tied to citizenship; therefore the word democracy is included in the subsequent findings chapters.
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