Strengthening Democracy in Bangladesh Reality or Myth

Abstract

It is apparent that, Bangladesh is striving hard towards attaining democratic governance.
The increasing effectiveness of the civil society organizations remain as complementary force
towards realizing the people’s aspiration for democratic governance into reality. Moreover, people’s
participation in the democratic process is exerting growing influence over public policy on a variety
of issues. Even, as one of the lower middle income countries, Bangladesh keeps up its persistent
efforts to consolidate democracy. However, despite many high profile successes in recent past an
embedded political culture prone to confrontation, widespread perceptions of corruption, disturbed
judicial system, ineffective parliament, lack of national consensus, less accountable public service
delivery, and few well-established protections for the basic rights of citizens remain problematic.
The government is struggling harder to overcome the colonial legacy of a highly centralized and
pervasive bureaucracy, but law and order still leftovers as a growing problem. The paper emphasizes
on analyzing the current state of democracy in Bangladesh. Furthermore, the study figures out
challenges and impediments of consolidating democracy in Bangladesh. Suggestions are made at
the end for consolidating democracy in Bangladesh.