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Rise of Competitive Authoritarianism in Bangladesh

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 July 2020

Shafi Md. Mostofa Open the ORCID record for Shafi Md. Mostofa [Opens in a new window]  and
D. B. Subedi Open the ORCID record for D. B. Subedi [Opens in a new window]
Shafi Md. Mostofa
Affiliation:
University of New England, Australia University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
D. B. Subedi*
Affiliation:
University of New England, Australia
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: D. B. Subedi, School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS), University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia. E-mail: dsubedi2@une.edu.au
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Abstract

We examine the changing nature of an authoritarian regime, which is emerging from the social and political conditions shaped by the unconsolidated democracy in Bangladesh. Drawing on desk-based research combined with interviews from the field, we argue that the current form of the authoritarian regime in Bangladesh represents the characteristics of competitive authoritarianism. We find that authoritarianism in Bangladesh combines “election manipulation” with three additional social and political mechanisms: “marginalization of political oppositions” leading to the oppositional void, “institutionalization of authoritarian policies,” and “co-option of religious leaders.” By adding these new mechanisms of authoritarian politics and tracing the links between politics and religion, we aim to expand the theory of competitive authoritarianism and unpack the puzzle of democratic consolidation in Bangladesh.

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Article
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Politics and Religion , Volume 14 , Issue 3 , September 2021 , pp. 431 - 459
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association

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Footnotes

There were errors in Shafi Md. Mostofa's name, the affiliations, and the abstract in the original online version of this article. In addition, Mostofa's ORCID number was omitted. These errors have been corrected above and an erratum has been published.

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