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Parliament and Good Governance: A Bangladeshi Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2008

MUHAMMAD MUSTAFIZUR RAHAMAN
MUHAMMAD MUSTAFIZUR RAHAMAN*
Affiliation:
Kasablanka, Room-25, 2-8-8 Iguchido, Ikeda City, 563-0023 Osakamustafiz_ac@hotmail.com and mustafiz_ac@yahoo.com
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Abstract

The attainment of good governance is the question of the day in Bangladesh. This paper discusses the ‘bedrock of good governance’, parliamentary accountability, and assesses the effectiveness of the Bangladesh Parliament in ensuring governmental accountability and promoting good governance since 1991 when the country re-entered into parliamentary democracy. Considerable discrepancies between the expected role and practical performances are identified and the study further identified a number of problems that severely hinder parliament's accountability function. This paper primarily argues that Bangladesh vested excessive powers in the hands of the executive branch; it, therefore, lacks the proper checks and balances a strong parliament could provide.

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Type
Research Article
Information
Japanese Journal of Political Science , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , April 2008 , pp. 39 - 62
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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