The study examines the trend of problematic electoral politics in Bangladesh through the lens of realpolitik or ‘real politics’ at two corresponding levels. Firstly, it sheds light on the constitutions of two selected major parties – the Bangladesh Awami League (AL) and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). There is an attempt to evaluate and score the degree of coherence and compliance of the constitutional provisions to internationally recognized standards of democratic party governance. Secondly, it analyses the actual practice of democracy as reported from selected districts’ party offices and journalists and other experts. Documentary analysis, field data, and interviews suggest that party constitutions do not meet international standards and that the legal framework and principles of the main parties generally discourages democratic practices leaving scope for abuse of power in top leadership, particularly the party head; and find that important party decisions are taken centrally without adequate consultation of local-level party leaders. An innovative indicator called the Party Democracy Index (PDI)- quantifying the responses from the surveyed districts in the study was developed, with findings of low intra-party democracy. Realpolitik- the discrepancy between principles and practice- is assessed based on the two main themes of ‘inclusiveness and decentralization’ as the pillar of intra-party democracy, and our concluding evaluation is democratic practices are far from present within the two major political parties in Bangladesh.
Authors: Mannan, Sadiat; Harun-Or-Rashid, Md.; Stanislawski, Jens; Khan, Niaz Ahmed
Type: Working Paper
Year: 2015
