Abstract
Bangladesh – a South Asian country with 100 million eligible voters - has experienced many challenges to democratic governance including conducting free and fair or at least credible national elections since its independence in 1971. Despite the importance of a credible electoral system, academic studies on Bangladesh perspective are limited. Instead of finding the social, political, and cultural challenges and obstacles for conducting credible national elections in Bangladesh, researchers have mostly focused on institutional weaknesses of electoral bodies and made recommendations to reform the Election Commission of Bangladesh. The purpose of this research is to uncover deep-seated problems which hamper the conduct of credible national elections. In this regard, this study also recommends pathways that may enable the Election Commission and the national government to develop an atmosphere for conducting credible national elections. With Representative Democracy, Electoral Clientelism, and State Capacity as the theoretical foundation of this study, it follows qualitative methods. The design of this study is based on an ethnographic and case study approach. The data collection for this research entails interviews with semi-structured questionnaires, case studies, archival investigation, doctrine analysis, and historical analysis. Data is inductively coded and subjected to thematic analysis. The Election Commission of Bangladesh, political parties of Bangladesh, and non-governmental civic organizations that aim to strengthen democratic intuitions may benefit from this research.
Presenters
Khaleda YasminGraduate Student, College of Indigenous Futures, Education & Arts, Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory, Australia
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Elections and politics in Bangladesh, Credible National Elections, Representative Democracy, Free and Fair Elections, Electoral Clientelism
