Challenges and Trends in Decentralised Local Governance in Bangladesh

Bangladesh has a rich legacy of establishing and promoting local government institutions, but the actual roles and contributions of these institutions to augment citizens’ participation and consolidate democratic practices have often been marginal - due mainly to the overwhelming central interference, and abuse and manipulation by authoritarian regimes to perpetuate their power. This study takes a retrospective look into the evolution and functioning of decentralised local governance in Bangladesh with a view to eliciting the major trends, characteristics and challenges. Such a reconnaissance exercise may be particularly relevant in consideration of the fact that there has, of late, been renewed emphasis on decentralized local governance by the government and civil society alike, and a number of structural and legal reforms have been made. This study is mainly based on a desk review, including an examination of official records and documents, and the key literature; and personal observations and insights. Some of the relevant trends and limitations identified and explored here include: lack of genuine political will and support for local governance reforms; capture of the local political space by central actors; inadequate capacity of local government institutions; lack of continuity in policy and practices; bureaucratic domination; inadequate coordination; the gap between policy rhetoric and field reality; inadequate resource mobilization; and low degree of popular participation.