3. Past Reforms on People’s Participation and Accountability at the Local Level in Bangladesh

In this century, most countries are mutually connected and guided by the direction of various international agreements, treaties, or a spirit of cooperation. However, the idea of a “nation state” or the development of relationships between state organs has recently begun to formalize. It has not yet been finalized how the power within each state would be shifted and which arrangement would bring most success. Some nations have agreed that the central power of a state would be transferred to the local level. But some nations’ powers are still concentrated in the center, and decentralization of this power is still to be resolved satisfactorily. In addition, globalization, which is the outcome of an international free-market economy and technological change, has shaped the functions of the modern state. In Bangladesh, the existing relationship between politics and administration emerged in the latter part of the nineteenth century and progressed until the middle of the twentieth century. This chapter discusses different reform initiatives that were intended to ensure people’s participation in the decision-making process of the local government bodies and holding people’s representatives accountable for their actions. This chapter also identifies factors that have hindered the process of evolution and development of responsible local government institutions in Bangladesh.