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4 - Political Patronage, Civil Service Politicization, and the Ordeals of Career Civil Servants

Insights from Bangladesh

from Part I - One-Party Dominated Systems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2023

By
Mohammad Mizanur Rahman
Edited by
B. Guy Peters ,
Colin Knox  and
Byeong Seob Kim
B. Guy Peters
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Colin Knox
Affiliation:
Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan
Byeong Seob Kim
Affiliation:
Seoul National University
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Summary

The chapter deals with three distinct yet interrelated public administration issues in the context of Bangladesh: patronage, civil service politicization, and the ordeals of politicization on individual civil servants. The patronage and politicization are deep-rooted in the governance and political trajectory of the country. Most key actors, politicians, bureaucracy, and business elites, are the beneficiaries of this politicized and patronage system. This chapter argues that the account of professional civil servants ordeal can contribute to the existing literature on public administration. The most perturbing issue is that the current governance trajectory in Bangladesh seeks to continually benefit from this politicized bureaucracy by establishing a monopoly over it. Therefore, it does not seem that the situation will change soon. However, as we know, nothing can stay static; thus, the silver line may emerge from the dialogues between stakeholders who want to see improved governance and professionalism in the bureaucracy. The author of this paper looks to the conscientious politicians, public opinion builders, and professional civil servants to break this vicious cycle.

Keywords

Political patronagecivil service politicizationordealsBangladeshmeritocracyprofessional civil service
Type
Chapter
Information
Political Patronage in Asian Bureaucracies , pp. 69 - 96
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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