Democracy and economic growth: An analysis of political economy of Bangladesh

Abstract

Economic development of Bangladesh is a very critical issue. It is very simple word but it is easy to say and difficult to do. There is change in constraint behind the economic development in aspect of price, wage and employment. In our country the main problem is inadequate opportunities for its population to work on. So, rapid growth of population is not a great threat for economic development if both in home and overseas employment opportunities can be created. Nowadays, most of the countries that employ foreign labors prefer seeing political stability of Bangladesh, which requires the regime to put effort for democracy & good governance simultaneously. In good governance perspective, regime’s responsiveness (RE), accountability (AC), rule of law (RL) and transparency (TR) seem to be the dominating factors behind the process of good governance where these factors are inter-related each other. With the statistical findings in this study, it might be remarked that the current state of governance of Bangladesh is poor where regime faces challenges like lack of accountability and transparency, lack of rule of law, inefficient leadership, rampant corruption etc. In democracy perspective, Bangladesh has been facing a number of challenges like institutionalized political parties, judicial independence (JI), democratic gesture (DG), executive constraint (EC) etc. Efforts for democracy should involve public education and changing attitudes and expectations, therefore, it is important to begin the process with a clear understanding of problems and potential points of intervention. This will facilitate monitoring of progress and measurement of change over time. Improvements and reforms in other areas will have little impact if the gains made over the lastseveral decades in elections cannot be maintained. An important element in ensuring that elections are credible is transparency. Civil society advocacy and observation will both be important to maintain and increase transparency. Also important to reduce political tension and encourage acceptance of election results is a perception that the process was administered fairly and neutrally, so advocacy for an unbiased, un-politicized neutral and independent Election Commission might be appropriate. Civil society organizations may encourage the growth of more open, inclusive and democratic political parties by supporting activities aimed at changing public and internal understanding and expectations about the appropriate role of parties in a democracy. This may be accomplished by facilitating the development of issue groups, and by encouraging parties to expand their membership base, so that the parties better represent the interests and aspirations of the broader population. Mechanisms might also be developed that provide opportunities for better communication between Parliament Members and constituents, to strengthen accountability and improve representation. Civic education should also aim to reduce tolerance for corruption and impunity. Finally, to strengthen civil society and help balance the power of the political and commercial sectors, democracy assistance actors should explore ways to encourage the development of voluntary associations and membership organizations. Since 1/11 dilemma is considered to be a black spot to our new phase of democracy (1990 – 2006), it might be a right time to think spreading military bases to many different districts. It might have a very limited office size in capital city for top level communications. In 21st Century, the ICT domination era, by so doing, the government can curtail its huge amount of costs in one hand; on the other hand, it can put further effort for democracy & good governance without worrying the repetition of ill motives of military. Overall, in this gloomy scenario, regime’s efforts for good governance & democracy simultaneously are the dire need of the hour. Though good governance has always been a dream for our country yet, this dream can be transformed onto reality. Sincere and dedicated government can make this dream come true. But it cannot be achieved in a wink of an eye. It requires a great toil and sacrifice. The civil society can play a significant role in this regard. Now, it is very easy to raise public opinion for democracy & good governance through the use of electronic media. The meetings and rallies are also very essential means to bring the trend of establishing democracy & good governance simultaneously on the right track.