Civilian supremacy in democracies with 'fault lines': The role of the parliamentary standing committee on defence in Bangladesh

Democratization

Volumn 13, Issue 2, 2006, Pages 283-302

  Ahmed, Syed Imtiaz ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF DHAKA   (Bangladesh)

Author keywords

Bangladesh; Civil military relations; Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence

Indexed keywords

CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONSHIP; DEMOCRACY; MILITARY INTERVENTION; NATIONAL POLITICS; PARTY POLITICS; PEACEKEEPING; POLITICAL INSTABILITY; POLITICAL PARTICIPATION; POLITICAL PROCESS;

ASIA; BANGLADESH; EURASIA; SOUTH ASIA;

EID: 33645764408     PISSN: 13510347     EISSN: 1743890X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/13510340500523994     Document Type: Article

References (56)

1. Muthiah Alagappa, 'Investigating and Explaining Change: An Analytical Framework', in Muthiah Alagappa (ed.), Coercion and Governance: The Declining Political Role of the Military in Asia (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001), p. 35.
2. Originally, the concept of democracies with 'fault lines' describes the situation where 'democracy has imported noteworthy change, especially in terms of institutionalizing electoral competition and pluralism, (but) notable problems remain in its illiberal flaws, in the ways participation and representation are reconfigured, in the control over institutionalized force and violence and in many other ways.' See Felipe Aguero, 'Conflicting Assessments of Democratization: Exploring the Fault Lines', in Felipe Aguero and Jeffrey Stark (eds), Fault Lines of Democracy in Post Transition Latin America (Miami: North South Center Press University of Miami, 1998), p. 9.
3. Alagappa (note 1), pp. 15-18.
4. Felipe Aguero, Soldiers, Civilians and Democracy: Post-Franco Spain in Comparative Perspective (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995), p. 16.
5. Larry Diamond and Marc F Plattner (eds), Civil Military Relations and Democracy (Baltimore, MD and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996), p. xxxviii.
6. Alagappa (note 1), p. 54.
7. Aguero (note 4), p. 17.
8. Ibid. p. 19
9. and Alagappa (note 1), pp. 54-5.
10. Aguero (note 4), p. 17
11. Emajuddin Ahamed, 'The Military and Democracy in Bangladesh', in R. J. May and Viberto Selochan (eds), The Military and Democracy in Asia and Pacific (Canberra: Australian National University Press, 2004), p. 108.
12. Talukdar Maniruzzaman, 'The Fall of the Military Dictator: 1991 Elections and the Prospect of Civilian Rule in Bangladesh', Pacific Affairs, Vol. 65, No. 2, (1992), p. 204.
13. Ahamed (note 10), pp. 107-8.
14. See for details, ibid., pp. 108-9.
15. Talukdar Maniruzzaman (note 11), p. 204.
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid., p. 205.
18. Bhuian Monoar Kabir, 'Politico-Economic Limitations and the Fall of the Military Authoritarian Government in Bangladesh', Armed Forces and Society, Vol. 21 No. 4 (1995), at Academic Search Elite
19. Talukdar Maniruzzaman (note 11), p. 207.
20. Nuhammad A, Hakim, 'Bangladesh: The Beginning of the End of Militarised Politics?', Contemporary South Asia, Vol. 7. No. 3 (November 1998), at Academic Search Elite
21. Talukdar Maniruzzaman (note 11), p. 208.
22. Prothom Alo (A Bengali Daily), 11 April 2002.
23. Mohammad Mahabub Khan and Syed Anwar Hussain, 'Process of Democratization in Bangladesh', Contemporary South Asia, Vol. 5 No. 3 (1996), p. 327.
24. The World Bank Annual Report2000 (Washington, DC: World Bank Publications, 7 March 2001), at
25. Law and Our Rights (A magazine of the Daily Star, an English daily published from Bangladesh). July 29 2001.
26. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute's Database on Military Expenditure, at
27. The 13th constitutional amendment in 1996 introduced the system of caretaker government in Bangladesh. According to this system, each elected government would hand over power to a neutral caretaker government headed by the chief justice after finishing their term. This government will remain responsible only to the president and its major duty would be to ensure the holding of a free and fair election. This system has thus far proved to be effective in terms of conducting relatively peaceful elections, though it definitely reflects the extent of mistrust among the major political parties.
28. Amena Mohsin, 'Bangladesh: An Uneasy Accommodation', in Alagappa (note 1), p. 224.
29. Ibid., pp. 218-20.
30. Alagappa (note 1), pp. 43-44 and 55.
31. Anthony H Cordesman, The Asian Military Balance (Washington, DC: Center For Strategic and International Studies, 2000), p. 75.
32. The Report of the 7th National Parliament's Standing Committee on Defence (Bangladesh, Bangladesh National Parliament [Jatiya Samsad], June 2001).
33. Ibid., p. 89.
34. Ibid., p. 257.
35. The Daily Star (an English daily newspaper published from Bangladesh), 27 September 2000.
36. Report of the 7th Parliament's Standing Committee on Defence (note 31), p. 24.
37. Robert A Packenham, 'Legislatures and Political Development', in Allan Kornberg and Lloyd D Musolf (eds), Legislature in Developmental Perspective (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1970).
38. Alan P Balutis, 'The Role of National Legislatures in Civilian Control of the Military in Developing Nations', Special Studies No. 64 (Buffalo, NY: Council on International Studies, State University of New York, June 1975).
39. Report of the 7th Parliament's Standing Committee on Defence (note 31), p. 64.
40. Ibid., p. 84.
41. Interview conducted in Dhaka, Bangladesh in July 2001.
42. For details about pro-military orientation of the BNP see, Ayesha Jalal, Democracy and Authoritarianism in South Asia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), p. 120.
43. For example, former Army Chief Noor Uddin Khan joined the Awami League after retirement. There were also strong speculations about General Nasim's liaison with the Awami League when he allegedly attempted the coup in 1996. See for details, Nurul Kabir, 'When the Constitution Outshot the Gun', Weekly Holiday (a weekly newspaper published from Bangladesh), 31 May 2002.
44. Mohsin (note 27), p. 225.
45. The circulation of daily newspapers per 1000 habitants increased from 5.9 in 1985 to 9.3 in 1996. (Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, at ).
46. Martin Shaw, 'Global Voices: Civil Society and the Media in Global Crisis', in Timothy Dunne and Nicholas Wheeler (eds), Human Rights in Global Politics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 214-32.
47. See For example, The Daily Star, 30 September 2000.
48. Ibid., 12 August 1999.
49. Ibid., 12 July 2001.
50. Ibid., 5 July 1999.
51. Interview conduced in Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 2001.
52. Gordon Crawford, Foreign Aid and Political Reform (New York: Palgrave, 2001), p. 61.
53. Thomas Carothers, Aiding Democracy Abroad: The Learning Curve (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1999), p. 197.
54. Howard B Schaffer, 'Back and Forth in Bangladesh', Journal of Democracy, Vol. 13, No. 1 (2002), p. 80.
55. .
56. Schaffer (note 53), p. 80.