ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS AND GOVERNANCE IN BANGLADESH: HOW FAR THE DREAM OF SUCCESS? (Published)
The aim of this paper is to evaluate the status and impact of reforms in governance which has been taken by various governments in Bangladesh since its independence. In doing so, the paper highlights on two reform packages New Public Management (NPM) of OECD member countries and Good Governance (GG) of donor agencies and its impact on Bangladeshi governance. Bangladesh was a colony of British and Pakistan over two centuries. As a result, at the initial stage of independence; the inherited administrative structure failed to manage the postcolonial economy and expectation of citizens of independent Bangladesh, which hinders to implement most of the reform efforts. Civil-military elitism dominated the bureaucracy that caused the lessening of accountability of the administration; as a result, corruption, inefficiency and ineffectiveness of administration appear to exemplify Bangladeshi governance. The learning lessons for public administration is lack of appropriate political leadership, unrealistic and ambitious reform initiatives, incapacity of government, chaotic political culture, absence of permanent reform institution, and lack of strong political will are responsible for futile to implement any reform initiative. Apart from these, some important elements of New Public Management (NPM) and Good Governance (GG) has been bespoke by recent past governments in governance process through policy initiatives to make the administration more accountable and citizen centric which is a very good sign of good governance in Bangladesh. Therefore, the impact of reform strategies of western world (NPM) and donor agencies (GG) influenced the third world countries like Bangladesh which ultimately transforming the literature of Public Administration to Public Management.
Keywords: Bangladesh, Bureaucracy, Governance, NPM, Public Administration, Reforms