Electoral Violence In Bangladesh Essay

Literature Review: State of the Art

Election has usually proved to be one of the most stable democratic institutions. Nevertheless, some minor tinkering with the rules and regulations regarding the administration of elections has been common in different countries (Norris, 1997). In his foundational work, Huntington argued that government should be based on free and fair elections, though organization and creation of institutions are important as well (Huntington, 1968). Likewise, elections can provide a mechanism meant to settle social differences peacefully; since voters can hold their representatives accountable, elections became central to democracy (Prezeworski, 2005; Przeworski, Stokes, & Manin, 1999; Schumpeter, 1942). However, this

Here, the particulars of the election and electoral institutions create complex conditions for candidate nomination as a major cause of electoral violence. A growing body of evidence points out that Bangladesh is a neopatrimonial state (Islam, 2013) or, at least, that patronage represents a central part of the state functioning (Suykens, 2017). However, ‘electoral violence’ has been a common phenomenon within the attempt to ensure the right to vote for Bangladesh citizens. Since the 1991 return of the ‘pluralistic democracy’ in Bangladesh, four ‘free and fair’ National Parliamentary Elections and four Union Council Elections took place under the Caretaker Government (CTG) . The political rivalry displayed since 1991 routinely turns into political violence. Although not distinguishing between electoral and other forms of political violence, a recent study drew on relevant dataset to show that between 2002 and 2013 more than 2400 people were killed in political violence and over 126000 were injured (Suykens and Islam, 2015). Other observations relevant for the present thesis are: the existence of confrontational bipolar party politics; the winners-takes-all power struggles which have divided the nation; the patron-client politics; the existence of one kingdom and two dynasties (Islam, 2015); the lack of strong electoral institutions in