IndexIntroductionThe meaning of legitimacyPolitical legitimacy in the case of BotswanaConclusionBibliographyIntroductionAccording to Max Weber (1968), legitimacy is the power in which its acquisition and exercise conforms to established law, a power that interprets the law rules and is rational. As such, it emphasizes the rule of law, constitutionalism, and democracy. It is probably simpler to say that legitimacy has brought international recognition in the sense that the United Nations recognizes such states for matters of international trade, political stability, peace and so on. In the past, most African countries have faced a crisis of political legitimacy. This crisis has manifested itself in the loss of trust among African citizens due to the elites; people in power abused power by engaging in corruption, which led to the perception that those who held political office lived the high life while second-rate commoners suffered. There is no doubt that in a governmental context, political legitimacy is the key to a democratic state that should guide and control the use of public resources efficiently. It is a necessary tool to ensure that citizens' rights are not trampled upon and to ensure that there are no abuses of power by those in power. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay This article will discuss the need for political legitimacy in governing a country. To pave the way for this paper, it is of greater importance to decode the meaning of legitimacy in governing a country with examples of legitimately governed states. Political legitimacy is considered a fundamental condition for governing, without which a government will face legislative impasses and collapse. The meaning of legitimacy Political legitimacy has contributed greatly to increasing levels of recognition and international relations in terms of economic investments. In essence, where there is legitimacy there is political stability and consequent economic growth through international trade, no country would want to invest in a nation where there is political instability. A legitimate country earns a certain reputation in the world; it is safe, by the rules and peaceful. Therefore, it is very easy to have investments all over the world to improve the development of the country. Take the example of Botswana's meat and diamond exports to other countries; these are Botswana's main economic sources and are doing relatively well thanks to the stability of the government, unlike countries such as Liberia, Syria, Somalia and Zimbabwe. This also led to the division of labor or rather power. The political legitimacy of a civil government derives from the three branches of government: legislative, judicial, and executive. These were combined to serve the national common good. Botswana is governed by the constitution which has established all the duties of the three branches of government to ensure maximum efficiency and also to hold the government accountable if anything were to go wrong. Section 95 of the Constitution talks about the duties of arms and also checks and balances to ensure that power is used accordingly in the legal framework to serve the best interests of the people. It promotes democracy in the form of civil legitimacy. In a democracy, government is made by the people for the people, that is why the elected government abides by democratic principles in governing and therefore is legally responsible to its people. Even more so since democracy preaches a government of the people by the people for the people. ANDIt is therefore important to lead a democratic nation in which the nation's rights and resources are protected. Democracy is seen through the existence of free and fair elections for all citizens. (Patberg, 2013) Civil legitimacy can be ensured through different measures of accountability with respect to voting, such as financial transparency and stakeholder accountability. In the international system another method of measuring civil legitimacy is through accountability to international human rights norms. (Aristotle, 2002) Political legitimacy also instills trust in the people in power from its citizens. Therefore, if people have so much trust in the government, it is easier to maintain peace and order. It is easier for moral reasons of cooperation and obedience on the part of subordinates. Legitimacy unites citizens and its government to form a united country. It acts as a form of unifying people in a country, essentially encouraging peace and stability. In a context where power is used accordingly and there is an equitable distribution of resources in the country, people are not forced to start political riots as a form of pleading with the country to do things the right way. Take the situation in Zimbabwe where citizens were fed up with Robert Mugabe's ruling and started doing everything to get rid of him, eventually succeeding. The erosion of political legitimacy reached crisis proportions because licensing regimes did not provide procedures through which citizens could peacefully express such grievances, especially to remove unpopular leaders. The power of an angry mob of citizens is more powerful than anything and the government must do the right thing according to the law and not mistreat its citizens. This is why a legitimate government is necessary to properly govern a country to avoid situations of political unrest and so on. Legitimacy exists to promote the rule of law through constitutionalism. The modern political concept of constitutionalism establishes law as supreme over private will, integrating nationalism, democracy, and limited government. The political legitimacy of constitutionalism derives from the popular belief and acceptance that government actions are legitimate because they comply with the law ordained in the constitution. According to political scientist Carl Joachim Friedrich, by dividing political power among government bodies, constitutional law effectively limits government actions. That is to say, it has opened up a platform of checks and balances in which bodies can keep track to ensure that power is not abused in office but rather used efficiently and effectively. (Friedrich, 1901) Political Legitimacy in the Case of Botswana In the era we live in, every nation wants to adapt a culture of efficiency and effectiveness through democracy, involving its citizens in decision-making on issues that may concern them as a Whole. Botswana, being one of the deeply developing countries, has adopted this culture of legitimacy. Botswana has been seen as one of the most legitimate nations among many countries in Africa and the world. It has developed profoundly in the direction in which it has achieved good governance. Although the idea of ​​adopting such regimes of democracy, rule of law and civil legitimacy was a great idea, to some extent there was a gap. It has a constitution that governs the country, it acts as a form of rule of law and no one can claim to be above the law and cannot break the law under any circumstances. As such, this constitution is there to control and direct the powers of the three branches of government. The ones are indicatedfunctions and limits. In this way civil legitimacy is needed because everything is done according to the rules accordingly, in fairness and equality. No individual rights must be trampled upon as long as the constitution exists. In Botswana there are free elections for all, this clearly shows that every individual has been given the utmost privilege to vote for a certain individual who would like to have authority or better. who they believe can offer better results. The elections are fair, legitimate. We can therefore say that democracy is truly exercised in Botswana. This is essentially why, unlike other countries, Botswana has not yet experienced civil wars or political instability because it is a fair and just nation. Legitimacy is a necessary condition for governing a country accordingly because it promotes good governance that ensures that power is not abused and that public resources are used efficiently and effectively with uniform distribution throughout. the country. This is why in promoting legitimacy, public participation must also be encouraged because the only way the government can govern properly is by knowing the needs of the people, their concerns and so on. Across different literatures, scholars support a collective interpretation according to which participation translates into better decision-making. Kandil (2017) argues that public participation contributes positively to decision-making because the government has eliminated information – in the form of facts, values, and perspectives obtained through public input – to impact decision-making. The population of Botswana is made up of people with cultures and beliefs on the spectrum. Therefore, making the public a cornerstone of decision making reduces the chances of inefficient and ineffective decision making. This argument is anchored in the fact that ordinary citizens know their own needs and priorities better than elites. Furthermore (Kandil, 2017) also highlighted that public participation encourages sustainable and actionable decisions. In the 21st century, countries face challenges related to the scarcity of resources to accommodate a growing population and be able to compete with other countries. Involving citizens' priorities in decision-making can be seen as the savior or messiah of scarce resources. Only the priorities and aspirations brought to the table by citizens represent the reality on the ground, thus making the implementation of the decision realistic. To make actionable decisions the government should involve other stakeholders to avoid making them frivolous and vexatious. Argue that effective public participation encourages transparency. Transparency and participation complement each other. Transparency paves the way for efficient and effective public participation. Transparency, participation and responsibility are ingredients of democracy. The lack of transparency in government processes not only weakens the rule of law and democracy in Botswana, but also leads to corruption. Fragile transparency cuts the umbilical cord between citizens and the government, thus encouraging the state's plunder of national resources. And this is common in Botswana. Botswana as a democratic state seeks to involve diverse stakeholders in democratization public plans or governance. Citizen participation in Botswana has not produced the expected results. As far as statistics show, Botswana lacks participation in many government plans, such as budgetary procedures. Botlhale, (2013, page 7) stated that one of the participants of Budget Pitsos in 2010 complained that he was given little time. 14-24.