Local Government System in Bangladesh: How Far is it Decentralised?

2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 205-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pranab Kumar Panday
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
The Political ◽  
Government Institutions ◽  
And Control ◽  
Secondary Materials ◽  
Monitor And Control

This paper aims to provide a better understanding of the power decentralisation process at the local level in Bangladesh. More specifically, this paper intends to explore whether or not the much needed autonomy has been built into the decentralisation process. The paper is basically based on the review of secondary materials. However, efforts have been made to consult all the available local government commission reports. The study findings suggest that, despite having Constitutional recognition of the establishment of a strong and independent local government system, the political leadership of Bangladesh has initiated different reforms to bring changes to the structure of the Local Government Institutions (LGIs) in the name of decentralisation. However, the main intentions behind most of the reforms have been to strengthen their political base in the particular area. As a result, these institutions could not be established as a focal point of development where people would have the power to monitor and control their constituencies.

scholarly journals Provincial–regional ANC politics in the Northern Cape: corruption or everyday informal practices?

2017 ◽  
pp. 96-118
Author(s):  
Thina Nzo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
The Political ◽  
Primary Role ◽  
Council Decision ◽  
Patronage Politics ◽  
Northern Cape

Research over the last decade on local government in South Africa has highlighted that some municipal councils under the political leadership of the Africa National Congress (ANC) have shown weak political leadership, coupled with strong patronage systems, rent-seeking and corruption which have had an impact on the institutional functionality of municipalities in South Africa. Although patronage politics have been predominantly used to analyse the dynamics of post-apartheid local government ANC politics and councillor representation, this prevents us from understanding the representational focus of ANC councillors in decision-making processes. This paper offers an ethnographic insight into experiences of ANC councillors and the political complexities involved in council decision-making. Using ethnographic research, this paper will analyse how a political decision by the ANC provincial party, which was supported by the ANC regional party at local level – to erect a statue of Nelson Mandela in one of the municipalities in the Northern Cape – generated tensions amongst ANC councillors who strongly viewed their primary role as promoters of better ‘service delivery’ rather than approving the allocation of scarce municipal resources for erecting a statue. The paper reveals how the dominant presence of ANC sub-regional structures at local level contribute to the complex interaction of both ANC party political and municipal organisational rules and norms that influence and shape councillors’ choices in decision-making.  

scholarly journals Analyzing Actors’ Engagement in Sustainable Energy Planning at the Local Level in Ghana: An Empirical Study

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 2028
Author(s):  
Hassan Qudrat-Ullah ◽  
Mark McCarthy Akrofi ◽  
Aymen Kayal
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Sustainable Energy ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Energy Development ◽  
Energy Planning ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Local Actors

Actors play a crucial role in sustainable energy development yet interaction in different contexts is an area that has not received much scholarly attention. Sustainable energy transitions theories such as the Multi-Level Perspective, for instance, have been criticized for not describing precisely the nature of the interactions between actors and institutions within socio-technical systems. The goal of this study was to empirically examine local actors’ engagement and its impact on the planning and implementation of sustainable energy initiatives in the villages and remote areas in Ghana. Using the mixed methodology approach, interviews were performed, focus discussion groups were held, and archival data were collected, and social network modeling and case study analysis was performed. Our findings showed that sustainable energy development at the local level depends on an interplay between local government agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), central government agencies, local communities, and private sector organizations. Despite being the focal point at the local level, local government involvement in sustainable energy planning is limited. In the case of Ghana, sustainable energy planning remains centralized and is manifested in a low level of awareness of local actors on national energy plans. The implication for decision makers is that energy planning functions should be devolved to the local government. Such devolution is expected to ensure the integration of sustainable energies into local government plans for the well-coordinated implementation and effective monitoring of sustainable energy projects.

scholarly journals Refleksjoner rundt paradokser, lederskap og læring

2020 ◽  
pp. 146-176
Author(s):  
Asbjørn Røiseland ◽  
Eva Sørensen ◽  
Jacob Torfing
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
National Legislation ◽  
The Third ◽  
Subsequent Chapter

In this chapter we sum up and conclude the book. In the first part we summarize the four paradoxes that have structured the book. The four paradoxes relate to conflict, administration, openness and democracy. We then discuss the national Norwegian framework for local government, and to what extent and how changes in for example national legislation can influence on the paradoxes and the tensions related to them. The third and last section focusses on the local level, and discusses how political leaders, individually as well as a collective, can strengthen their political leadership through different activities at different arenas for learning. In a brief and subsequent chapter, we give a practical example on how this may be organized.

scholarly journals Clientelism, Partyarchy and Democratic Backsliding: A Case Study of Local Government Elections in Bangladesh

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-91
Author(s):  
Abu Elias Sarker ◽  
Faraha Nawaz
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
The Political ◽  
Institutional Environments ◽  
Effective Role ◽  
Grassroots Level

In a developing country like Bangladesh, the devolved local government system is widely recognized as one of the key institutional forms for the citizen-centric public service delivery system and ensuring democratic governance at the grassroots level. However, the democratic nature of local governments and their effective role in rendering services are contingent upon the political and institutional environments of the country. Competitive electoral process is key to local democratic governance. The purpose of this article is to analyze the implications of contemporary political order and institutional environments for the proper functioning of the Union Parishad (council), the lowest tier of the local government system in Bangladesh. More specifically, this study will reflect on how political clientelism, partyarchy and institutional environments have stymied competitive electoral politics at the local level which may result in democratic backsliding.

The Potential of the Main Political Parties in Contemporary Russia

2021 ◽  
pp. 75-83
Author(s):  
Vitaly N. Ivanov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Party System ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
Ruling Elite ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Opposition Parties

The object of the research is the modern party system in Russia. The aim of the article is to study the organizational, financial, and political potential of the main parliamentary political parties: Edinaya Rossiya (United Russia (UR)), CPRF, LDPR, and Spravedlivaya Rossiya (A Just Russia). The comparative analysis of party resources revealed a significant disparity between the potential of UR and the opposition parties. The latter are inferior to the UR in terms of the number of members and the development of the organizational structure. The total number of members and local organizations of these parties is one-third of UR's indicators. The lack of a developed infrastructure for the opposition parties preserves their limited representation and influence at the local level of public power. The financial potential of the parties is formed mainly by state funding and donations from sponsors. Today, four parliamentary parties are eligible for state support. The share of public finance in their budgets is more than half of all revenues. They also receive the bulk of donations, the size of which is limited by law and is official in nature. It can be argued that Russia has formed a mechanism that allows the state to support parties without allowing the establishment of monopoly influence on their activities by individuals and elite groups. The political potential of the parties is determined by the level of their representation in state and local government bodies. Today it is dominated by UR. Its parliamentary fractions actually control the legislative branch of power at the federal and regional levels. Together with the presidential structures of power, UR also ensures the election of presidential creatures to the posts of heads of regions. Party members today form the basis of the governor's corps, with a single representation from other political parties. UR's organizations include more than half of deputies and heads of municipalities, ensuring its influence on the local government system. The high level of dominance of UR and the limited potential of the opposition parties is an important condition for the stability of the existing political regime. UR's significant opportunities allow the ruling elite to maintain and strengthen their positions: cut off the forces of the radical opposition from power, control the legislative process providing legal support for decisions of the government and the head of state, consolidate the federal and regional elite, ensuring the rotation of elites and coordination of their interests. In these circumstances, the parties of the parliamentary opposition are important for preserving the democratic nature of the political process. They do not question the dominant role of UR, offer limited competition to it, and do not have the potential to really influence key political decisions.

A Tradition Co-opted: Participatory Development and Authoritarian Rule in Sudan

2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Laure Mahé
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Participatory Development ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Authoritarian Rule ◽  
Sudan I

AbstractThe concept of participation is a cornerstone of development and democracy discourses, but studies on participatory development rarely examine the political regimes those policies are embedded in. Yet, in authoritarian contexts, participation is ambiguous, potentially threatening—as it can be connected to democratic ideals—and it also can be used as a resource, a tool for domination. Through an analysis of participatory development projects implemented in Sudan, I explore how power relations are renegotiated at the local level. Relying on data collected during fieldwork in Khartoum and the state of North Kordofan, where the projects are located, I highlight the disconnect between the discourse surrounding the participatory devices, which establishes an horizontal relationship between citizens and the local government, and the actual practices that strengthen the latter's power. In doing so, the article challenges a linear, top-down conception of authoritarian power and reveals the tensions that exist between institutional levels.

scholarly journals Samorząd lokalny na Ukrainie: forma, która nie stała się treścią

Politeja ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 12 (2 (34/1)) ◽  
pp. 93-106
Author(s):  
Myrosława Lendel ◽  
Switłana Buła
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Local Level ◽  
The Political ◽  
Local Democracy ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
Political Discourses ◽  
Power Construction ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Government ◽  
Ukrainian Crisis

Local government in Ukraine: the form without content Ukrainian crisis of 2013/2014 that is perceived as Euromaidan can be explained, besides other external reasons, also in the terms of the mental and societal conflict between formally democratic, but non‑working legal norms, and the clientele, even feudal political practice. The ideal of democracy can be tested on the local level where the government structures are physically closer to citizens that can use the mechanisms of the direct and other forms of democracy. But in Ukraine the scenario of the rapid and radical transition towards the principles of the local democracy that was implemented in some Central‑European countries was not realized because of the inherited system of the centralized governance, the administrative and territorial division, lack of the motivated elite, non‑activist type of the political culture. The existing legal environment for functioning of the elected councils and mayors did not stimulated the efficient development of the local communities, as well as the faith of the citizens in the role of the political decision‑making, that is the core of the local democracy. Set of the political discourses that are vital in the modern Ukraine and connected with the question of the political system renovation is centered around the decentralization of power, construction of the new scheme of the administrative division of Ukrainian regions. The adoption of the new Constitution in the pair with the political activism of Ukrainian can be a starting point for the construction of the vital local government filled with the sense of democracy.

scholarly journals The Main Tendencies of the Political Development of the Indian System of Local Self-Government after the Adoption of the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 185-192
Author(s):  
N N Emelyanova
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Political Development ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Local Level ◽  
The Political ◽  
Constitutional Amendments ◽  
Regional Parties

The article is devoted to actual tendencies of development of local government system in India after gaining of the constitutional status. Considered such topics as the phenomenon of new leadership at the local level in the context of overcoming the traditional distribution of political power; feminization of panchayats; inf luence of regional parties on the activities of local government.

The King Is King by the Grace of the People: The Exercise and Control of Power in Subject-Ruler Relations

1995 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 415-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ørnulf Gulbrandsen
Keyword(s):  
Political Leadership ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Political Dynamics ◽  
Authority Figure ◽  
The People ◽  
Political Relations ◽  
The Face ◽  
And Control

In the face of the dominating tradition of British structural functionalism, anthropological studies of political leadership represented an important move towards accounting for the dynamics of centralized, as well as acephalous, polities (for example, Barth 1959 and Baily 1970; cf. Schapera 1956). Moreover, in focusing upon political actors and, by extension, political relations, these studies necessarily took account of the role of the subjects. Yet, despite Gluckman's innovative notion of “rituals of rebellion” (1954; cf. Beidelman 1966), the issue of political leadership has rarely focused upon the political dynamics of the ruler-subject relationship, examining the concerns and responses of those who more or less voluntarily subject themselves to an authority figure. Even such an important contribution as Succession to High Office (Goody 1966) completely ignores this issue.

scholarly journals New Face of Local Government: Synergy of Handling the Spread of Covid-19 Between Local Governments and Indigenous Villages in Bali

2020 ◽  
pp. 57
Author(s):  
I Putu Dharmanu Yudartha
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Economic Aspect ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Dimensions ◽  
Political Dimension ◽  
Government Governance ◽  
New Perspective

Province Bali province seeks to build synergy in addressing the spread of covid-19 with the involvement of indigenous villages. This is certainly a big question about its effectiveness and provides a new perspective in government governance at the local level. The purpose of this research is to analyze the dimensions of synergy between local governments and indigenous villages in Bali Province and their impact on the handling of covid-19 in Bali. The results showed that the cultural and social dimensions were able to position the indigenous village into an important pillar in the pattern of governance in Bali. Through the policy of the scope of indigenous villages (such as awig-awig and perarem) and pecalang as a security party in the scope of indigenous villages are able to synergize with local governments, especially in overseeing the implementation of health protocols. The synergistic with good local governance concept, such as : dimension of the economic aspect shows that through indigenous village funds, the local government provides the same space for indigenous villages involved in the handling of covid-19. The political dimension related to synergy is further strengthening the commitment of the Governor of Bali to reposition the indigenous village as part of governance in Bali. The synergistic impact is to provide great space for various parties, especially indigenous villages in the participation of each policy in the region. This synergy also relieves the free local government in its handling of covid-19.

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