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2018 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

4. Governance, People’s Participation, Accountability, and the Act of 2009

Authors : Shuvra Chowdhury, Pranab Kumar Panday

Published in: Strengthening Local Governance in Bangladesh

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

Governance is defined as the functioning of an organization. People’s participation and accountability are two important features of governance that are used to measure the quality of governance. These features are inter-related and complement each other. The Local Government Institutions (LGIs) in Bangladesh have been criticized for being inefficient and lacking credibility in terms of providing better services to the citizens and ensuring the citizens’ participation in the governing process. To amend this, different successive governments have initiated reform initiatives to improve the quality of governance at the local level. One such initiative was the implementation of the Local Government (Union Parishad) Act, 2009 (Act of 2009). This has allowed for people’s participation in the governing process and holding the people’s representatives accountable for their actions. The main aim of this chapter is twofold; the first half discusses governance, people’s participation, and accountability from the theoretical perspective, and the second half analyzes different provisions of the Act of 2009 that are mandated to improve the quality of governance through enhancing people’s participation and accountability of the UP functionaries. The reform efforts based on the Act of 2009 have been discussed from the perspective of contemporary theories of public administration, including New Public Management (NPM) and Social Accountability Mechanism (SAM). Finally, this chapter presents the institutional set-up of the responsible LGIs in Bangladesh.

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previous chapter Past Reforms on People’s Participation and Accountability at the Local Level in Bangladesh
next chapter Process of Participatory Planning and Budgeting at the Local Level
Footnotes
1
The “people” are not a homogenous entity. In every society, there exists divisions of people relating to class, ownership, occupation, gender, community, and culture.
 
2
Appendix A. The figure entitled “Typologies or Models of Participation - A continuum” shows various models of participation developed by prominent authors and the manifold levels of participation in each model.
 
3
The act of any person in taking part in public affairs.
 
4
There are three distinct types of decisions: initial decision, ongoing decisions and operational decisions. Initial decisions about a project concern needs and priorities (e.g., where to start and what to do).Ongoing decisions are taken after the initial decisions are made. Operational decisions concern the enumeration of initial and ongoing decisions, which encompass the substance of project decision-making (Khan & Asaduzzaman, 1995).
 
6
Appendix G shows transferred government departments at UZP Level.
 
7
Section 14 (1,2,3,4,5) of the Act of 2009.
 
8
Appendix C contains the functions of the UP as specified by the Act of 2009.
 
9
Appendix D shows transferred departments at UP level.
 
10
Appendix E shows institutional framework for local level plan formulation process. This bottom-up approach of planning framework has been developed by the authors based on the SFYP, PRSP and, the Act of 2009.
 
11
Planning includes both annual and five-year plan.
 
12
Appendix F shows the powers and functions of the WS.
 
13
The stipulated timeframe for the preparatory budget meeting is April of any financial year.
 
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Metadata
Title
Governance, People’s Participation, Accountability, and the Act of 2009
Authors
Shuvra Chowdhury
Pranab Kumar Panday
Copyright Year
2018
Book
Strengthening Local Governance in Bangladesh

Print ISBN: 978-3-319-73283-1

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-73284-8

Copyright Year: 2018

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73284-8_4