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Part-A: Introduction

Background and Context


Bangladesh - a typical developing country in South Asia in terms of a large population, low per capita income, persistent trade deficit and an economy dominated by agriculture - has increasingly moved towards a market-based economy since the mid-1970s as a result of receiving assistance under structural adjustment programs of World Bank, IMF and other donor nations. Despite this foreign assistance poor governance remains a big challenge for us. It is observed that both internal and external factors such as politics, public pressure and donor countrys conditions on reform, politicization of professionals are slowly generating paradigm shift towards good governance and sustainable development. However, the paradigm shift towards good governance needs to pick up more speed to establish as a Bangladesh globally competitive nation. It has been almost 40 years our country got its independence, but yet it did not achieve any significant result in governance. The core challenge lies in developing a governance model that fits the current economic and political condition of the country. The other major bottlenecks are its slow monolithic non transparent, bureaucratic structure, rampant corruption in public offices, politicization of professionals not only puts Bangladesh in TIB (Transparency International Bangladesh) top corrupt list of nations but also raise the cost of living in this country. The legal frame work of the country dwells on the rules set by the British colonial rulers- A master and servant mindset of governance, which is proving to be ineffective and highly inefficient considering todays global information age economic environment. Though legal reforms are slowly taking place in public sector but due to lack of enforcement as well as political commitment, professionals and executives have no other alternative but to follow inefficient outdated laws. In addition, Politicization, favoritism, nepotism and corrupt practices in recruitment and placement of government employees specially the professionals are also major obstacles to good governance in Bangladesh. Strong political willingness to fight against corruption, ensure the accountability, transparency and rule of law has become imperative for establishing good governance. In addition, a pro people approach by strengthening the local government system is a must to achieve the goal of good governance. Good governance for sound development is a campaign echoed in Bangladesh as across the world. It is believed that good governance is such types of government process where important decisions are taken by concerned organizations through a participatory method justifying the views of the professionals, have accountability and transparency as well as application of rule of law in every government action.

Statement of the Problem


Politicization has become a common feature of Bangladesh politics. Starting from the bureaucracy, every government has tried to offer undue privileged to official loyal to them at every level. Politicization of professionals is not unique features of the Bangladesh only. This practice is evident in many developed countries also. It is argued that politicizing of upper level professionals on political basis (although it should be done up to a moderate degree) may put

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the government in an advantageous position while implementing their policies. For instance, 10% posts of higher levels of US administration are political appointees. These officials are not career civil servants. In UK, political or special advisers are recruited for offering advice to the ministers for better understanding of policies. Both political and administrative officials comprise ministerial cabinet in France. However, the situation of politicized professionals in those countries is different from the situation of politicization in Bangladesh whereby political loyalty is considered as the most important performance appraisal criteria than professional performance. Outside Bangladesh, political appointment is made on the basis of high professional ability instead of rewarding supporters loyal to them. In Bangladesh political appointment is made to reward supporters of the ruling party and supporters of the opposition are considered as the enemies who are very often victimized during promotion, transfer and other personal benefit related issues.

Significance of the Problem


Party government is a mark of our evolving times. Political parties constitute indispensable components of modern representative democracy. Well organized and well-knit parties which themselves are democratic work as the engine of effective and stable democracies. In situations unfavorable to the flowering and sustaining of the democratic order, sound political parties can play a vital and positive role in changing things for the better. As Samul P. Huntigton, the enunciator of the controversial concept of 'Clash of Civilizations' observed in his earlier work 'Political Order in Changing Societies': Political parties, as instruments o f mobilizing new groups into politics and as entities not easily controlled by a single leader, may act as useful and effective balance to the shortcomings of personal leadership....Well established competitive parties with sound organization and effective spread can successfully aggregate diverse interests of specific groups and bring broad unity. A well-developed party system -- whether dominant, multi-party or even single, capable of absorbing new social forces and offering considerations to new demands arising -- is an effective component of political stability. Such an arrangement is a safeguard against the weakness produced by instability which invites military intervention. Political parties that work within and for an appropriately functioning democratic system also prevent party governments from degenerating into partisan governments. They are, however, unable to play this role in uncertain and illiberal democracies featuring less developed political societies such as Bangladesh. Underdeveloped polities are characterized by inadequate political institutions. Weak and ineffective political institutions make it difficult, if not impossible, for democracy to function. In such situations politics is vitiated and dominated by non-political or extra-political forces and processes. As Huntington analyzed: The same causes which produce military intervention -- in politics are also responsible for political involvements of labor unions, businessmen, students and clergy. These causes lie not in the nature of the group but in the structure of society, in particular they lie in the absence or weakness of effective political institutions in the society.

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The most prominent victims of such debilitating weakness are the political parties. In situations marked by inadequate political institutions, political parties do not grow in a desirable manner and fail to practice democracy within them. Frequently unable to adhered to the inalienable canons of democracy: consensus on core national issues leading to broad national unity, tolerance of differing and diverse opinions, commitment to peaceful resolution of political disputes, they often contribute to the dwarfing of democracy. In many cases they centre round and depend excessively on personal and charismatic leadership. As a result they are incapable of drawing lively support and enduring strength from the people at large. Their vitality diminishes. As and when victory in the polls put them in power they attempt to draw strength from state institutions by dominating and politicizing these. This leads to the undesirable transformation of party governments into partisan governments which try to perpetuate themselves in power by vigorously building and sustaining a virtual patron-client network between the ruling party and the government officials at various levels. Another factor that tends to intensify partisan mindset in political parties is the propensity to establish and exercise total domination over society. Even when operating under an apparently democratic set-up some political parties' nurture and manifest totalitarian ambitions. These parties want to establish their ideologies and programs to the exclusion of all others. As such when in power they make covered and overt efforts to bulldoze all opposition by monopolizing government agencies and mobilizing street power through their supporters. The partisan mindset is in many ways, a carryover from the pre-democratic past of a society. Heightened partisanship is antithetic to democracy as it is unwilling to tolerate opposition which is an indivisible component of the democratic order. Organized opposition is a hallmark of representative democracy. Along with the right to participation in government decision-making by casting a vote and the right to be represented, the right of an organized opposition to appeal for votes against the government in elections and in parliament is a vital feature in the evolution and progress of democratic institutions. As a political phenomenon constitutionally recognized opposition is a recent addition. It can be traced back only to the closing years of the 19th century. It is also a relatively rare feature of history of political societies. In many ways its birth was in defiance of circumstances. As has been aptly remarked: A governing group will use the coercive powers of the government, to deny opponents the opportunity to oppose it, in every instance where the governing group expects that coercion has a fair chance of succeeding and the gains of successful denial will exceed the costs. Peaceful opposition has more chance of survival in a system where the governing group has only a limited access to resources of coercion. In post-colonial developing societies political parties themselves are often underdeveloped. Instead of collegial or democratic leadership these entities are featured by charismatic and frequently dynastic leadership. The cult of personalities permeates these organizations.

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Consequently personality becomes more dominant than system and the parties remain unable to practice democracy within them. The undemocratic content tends to spill over into the broader arena of politics. It is often found that such a party after acquiring power through ballot attempts to exercise complete sway over the polity. The reduction, if not the complete elimination of the opposition becomes its undeclared objective. To that end it tries to expand and strengthen its control over state institutions, especially those commanding the resources of coercion. This is where party government begins to transform itself into partisan government. It is not that in societies which are politically developed at present those in power did not have inclinations to become totally dominant by following partisan ways. In their cases, however, such attempts were thwarted by built-in factors. For instance, in 18th century Britain, legal opposition had better chances because the potential effectiveness of military or police forces or instruments of coercing opposition were limited on account of standing army being limited and police forces being under local control. Again, in Switzerland, the armed forces being constituted of citizen militia there is little scope for a ruling group to utilize this for political domination. Further, partisan domination is rendered impossible when tradition or law deny legitimacy to a government using military forces to decide internal political disputes. Historical instances of such phenomenon are found in the Netherlands during 15th and 16th centuries and in Britain after the Revolution of 1688 and in Sweden during the 18th century. Partisan governments' bid for monopoly of power through coercion by government agencies also fail when the opposition groups have effective opportunities to take recourse to defensive violence. Examples of this phenomenon are found in the USA in the 18th and 19th centuries. Politically developed Western societies and some similar Eastern societies have built strong ramparts against party governments transforming themselves into partisan governments leading to the virtual dismantling of the democratic order. These safeguards are not only enshrined in their constitutions but also encoded in their customs and conventions. Strong and active civil society organizations, free and non-partisan media, independent and alert judiciary, independent and neutral election commission, human rights commission and anti-corruption commission stand on the way of partisan behavior of the ruling party. These are the reasons why in developed political societies such as the USA, UK, countries of West Europe, Japan and India democracies function and operate smoothly with the help of political parties which cannot and do not cultivate the partisan mindset. Political parties in these developed democracies know that acquisition and maintenance of political power do not depend on turning government agencies into party organizations. History, tradition and democratic realities of the present teach them that the way to meaningful and enduring power lies through better and sound political organization which can win the hearts and souls of the citizens. They, therefore, act accordingly and do not pursue the myopic and self-destructive course of turning state institutions into party organizations.

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Unfortunately, the scenario is painfully different in developing polities including Bangladesh. Inadequately institutionalized nationalism, lack of consensus on core national issues, weak state institutions and insufficient political socialization of political leaders and their weakness lead to a dangerous lack of confidence in the potential and strength of their own political parties. This is why those parties whenever they are voted into power attempt to strengthen their hold by pushing forth a partisan agenda. They try to politicize state institutions in their favor. The venture does not stop there. Within power or without, the parties carry on the task of politicizing civil society groups, media and professionals to win support for them. The net result of all these activities is a cruel polarization of the entire society along major party lines. In consequence, the nation becomes virtually divided and cooperation of various social forces in the cause of democracy becomes difficult, if not impossible. Things have to change if democracy is to survive in such societies. Leaders, especially political leaders, must call a halt to the destructive process of turning party governments into partisan governments. Political parties can and will do better if they do not depend on government machinery for their survival and growth. They must remember that it was not the government agencies that brought them into power from their station as opposition party. On the contrary, it was the people, the voters mobilized and motivated by the workers of their party which help them win the elections and assume power. They need to build their political organizations soundly and effectively to secure a brighter future for themselves. A political party that seeks enduring power through politicization and capture of state institutions may itself become a captive of non-political forces and lose its democratic credentials. Such undesirable developments spell the doom of democracy. If successful in its attempt at total domination the combine may set up a totalitarian order. On the other hand, incompetent handling of matters by the combine may lead to violent resistance from opposing forces resulting in widespread disorder and continuing conflict turning the country into a failed state. In an avowedly democratic dispensation party government that degenerates into partisan government is a sure prescription for horrific disaster. Wise leaders need to take early measures to arrest the degradation of healthy party government into decadent partisan government. This is what the present political situation in Bangladesh. The overall political system has a strong power to attract the mass people into it. In response to this, the professionals of Bangladesh who are always count as elites are surrendering to politics. Political parties want professionals in party policy making and other party activities in return of providing the professionals all types of benefits and support. This is how the professionals are being politicized in Bangladesh.

Literature Review
The findings and discussion section of this research will mainly illuminate the politicization of professionals focusing on some special aspects. However a brief discussion will help to understand the discussion of the leading sections.

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It is interesting but the reality is no academicians have any publication related to the topic politicization of professionals and its impact on government. In developed countries the politicization process is not significant. In the case of developing counties the topic is relevant and significant but in our neighboring developing countries like India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka the topics has been unnoticed as like Bangladesh. Many academicians have work on the politicization of the bureaucracy but the titled topic is more than rare in the literature. However, Professor Mohammad Mohabbat Khan (2009) has stated, Once the pressing problem in governance today concerns the politicization of the public bureaucracy and its effect on administrative performance. Politicization is used here in the sense of partisan interference of the political executives in the career practices of public servants. It has been observed that during the initial years of independence Bangladesh witnessed partisan influence over the civil service. This trend continues unabated. Successive military rulers have in various ways encouraged, favored and promoted senior civil servants who would continue to advice and support them. Servility to persons rather that to institutions and rules became the dominant feature of the day. Ferdous Jahan (2006) argued, The politicization of bureaucracy is not unique to Bangladesh. For example, a debate about the politicization of bureaucracy emerged in the UK during the time of Margaret Thatcher when Sir John Hoskins stated that moderate politicization at the higher level of the bureaucracy would help the government to implement its policy more effectively. In one way or another, politicization is present in the administration of almost every developed country. It exists to allow the political leadershipthose who are elected and the advisors they hire or appoint directlyto coordinate with the administrative leadership, senior career civil servants. Reorganizing ministries and transferring selected senior civil servants are political actions, but they can be justified or rationalized as enhancing efficiency and can be considered positive or allowable politicization. In this discussion we focus on the negative aspect of politicization. It exists when personnel management decisions like transfer, promotion, and contractual recruitment depend not on quality and efficiency but on the persons loyalty to a certain political party: the subversion of merit and seniority standards damages the civil service as an institution. Politicization in administration has reached the utmost level where professionals like lawyers, doctors, engineers, university teachers also being politicized as they have role in bureaucracy whether directly or indirectly. Amanullah Kabir (2002) stated, The politico-administrative guillotine first fell on the doctors and medicos of the medical colleges. Dr. Abdul Hadi and Dr. M. A. Rashid, respectively the principal and the head of the Department of Surgery of Dhaka Medical College, were ordered stand-released amidst student unrest in the college. The principal of Barishal Medical College also has been transferred. They had been punished clearly on political ground as all three of them were branded as supporters of the previous BNP government. Dr. Rashid is the president of the Doctors Association of Bangladesh (DAB), a platform of the medicos belonging to the nationalist force of the country.

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In a democracy, everybody should be happy to see an unchecked growth of newspapers and new faces joining the profession of journalism. This does reflect the extent of freedom of the press, but certainly not the standard of profession and the condition of the newspaper industry. Democracy has given the press freedom, but its vices instead of its virtues have already started showing their ugly faces. In other words, there has occurred a spectacular quantitative change but not a qualitative change after restoration of democracy in the country. Amanullah Kabir (2002) pointed, The situation has reached such an alarming state that th e working journalists are divided into different political camps and often they behave more like a political worker or leader than a professional. Consequently, it has become risky on the part of reporters and photographers with the political colour of a newspaper where they work, to cover the activities of a political party having opposite political views. There have been investigations into the state of politicization and governance in Bangladesh to a large extent, and there are also studies on historical background of the politicization, as well as the confrontational attitudes of the professionals. There are also widespread allegations from the commoners as well as from the civil society that the political parties and the professionals behave undemocratic and autocratic. This researcher for the current report finds a space to find effect of traditional social structure of Bangladesh on the professionals and behavior, and how these are affecting institutionalization of democracy in the governance.

Related Research
Virtually no academic research has been conducted on politicization of professionals. But on some specific profession few works has done by researchers. M R Karim Reza & Muhammad Yusuf (2010) has worked on the political biasness of the Doctors in Bangladesh referring same to the other professions. They has pointed out, Every individual voters may vote according their choice between parties, that does not mean he must belong to a particular party that he votes .We have been experiencing a vast majority of our public servants declares their political identity in a maladies intention for many years. Professionals like doctors, engineers, and agriculturist are also following the same track, even in the judiciary too. Pranab Kumar Panday and Ishtiaq Jamil identified the Politicization on the Recruitment of University Teachers. They noted, In Bangladesh, it has now been a political culture that a change in government would bring a change in the university administration. Such political move has made recruitment and promotion of the university teachers more political. The 'impact' of politicization refers to an assessment of the outcome of politicized recruitment process on the quality of education. The study suggests that every administration have tried to recruit teachers more on political ground than on the basis of merit. They always remain in search of recruiting a voter than a teacher. Promotional opportunities are also dominated by the influence of politics. As an obvious consequence, the quality of education has gone down.

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Objectives of the Study


The broad objective of the paper is to make an extensive study on good governance. In addition, this paper discusses present condition, importance and expectation about governance, politicization and professionals in Bangladesh. The specific objectives are: To understand the effects of socio-cultural values on politicization of professionals; To understand the level of influence of the political parties in the politicization of professionals; To understand how the governing system is affecting by the politicization.

This proposed study will add to the understanding of the cultural dimensions of the society affecting governance and professionals, particularly in their decision making process. Historical background has been used in most cases by the political scientists and sociologists to understand the nature of politicization and democratization process. This project will consider power distance, which is a normative root of socio-political culture, to understand the nature of governance, and relationship among the party and professionals, perception of the professionals towards democracy, as well as perception of the common masses towards professionals and democracy.

Hypotheses
The proposed research is to investigate into the setbacks in the process of institutionalization of democracy in governance in Bangladesh. For investigation in the given time period, the researcher has considered four major professionals in Bangladesh Doctors, Engineers, Journalists, University Teachers. Each of the professional groups has historical background and experiences of politics. There can be a number of factors affecting politicization process of the professionals, however, this research project is considering three factors as independent variables Power distance of the society which includes socio-cultural values of professionals in politicization; Political party in politicization and its nature; Professionals orientation towards governance and practices conducive or detrimental to institutionalization of good governance.

Depending on Independent Variables Hypotheses is: Socio-cultural values affect politicization of professionals. Political parties influence the professional to join politics to stay in the power. Politicization of professionals has a negative impact on the whole governing system.

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Part B: Conceptual Framework


Politicization
Politics is about attention to certain issues and conflict about them. Comparative political scientist tends to focus on either salience or attention, or party political positions. First, agendasetting studies in political science point to the relative attention, the salience, of issues in various arenas of politics. In an overly simplified view of such agendasetting approaches, issue attention travels from public opinion via the news media through party politics to the government and its policies. Such studies focus on the variation in government responsiveness to political issues. The rankorder of issues, the restricted nature of agendas and the (un) likely pathways of issue salience are in such approaches important parameters explaining countrydifferences in politicization. These agendasetting explanations, however, still miss the magnitude and character of the conflict. For instance, if twenty percent of the Congressional hearings deal with public land issues does that make the issue of public land a politicized one? Therefore, and second, especially scholars of political parties, and party competition more specifically, highlight the importance of positional competition and the extent to which political parties (and the electorate) have different, polarized positions on the issue (e.g. Downs, 1957; Carmines and Stimson, 1989; Hobolt and De Vries, 2011). Electoral competition is seen as a process in which parties present different choices to the electorate in terms of different positions on issues and opposing ideological positions. When political actors have different positions they are in conflict the issue is polarized. So, politics should be understood as a combination of salience and polarization. This is our main dependent variable and should change with changes in the political opportunity structure. Such a combination of agendaoriented and conflictoriented approaches to conceptualize politicization is shown in the figure 1 below. The vertical dimension addresses the extent to which the issue receives more political attention than other issues (saliency). The horizontal dimension reflects the extent to which political actors have different positions on an issue (polarization).

Typology of Politics towards a Topic

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The variation on these two dimensions produces four idealtypical states of politics on an issue. First, not politicized politics refers to situations in which there might be a social problem, which might even be recognized as a problem, but which is not (yet) a political issue. Second, valence politics is about issues on which actors agree about the appropriate actions to take. Yet, the topic is considered by at least some political parties as the responsibility of the state. So, it is put on the agenda as a political issue. Stokes (1963, 373) was the first to coin the term valence issues, i.e., issues where different actors agree about the goals that had to be realized, but where parties disagree about the ways in which to realize these goals or the priority to give to the issue. Third, in situations labeled as latent politics, actors do not attend to an issue and have diverging positions on it. Certain institutional arrangements (coalition governments, high electoral thresholds) may encourage implicit agreements among actors to agree to disagree, but not to take further decisions on the issue. In that case, parties attempt to decrease the saliency of certain issues. Typical examples of latent politics are the ways in which Dutch parties dealt with the issues of abortion (Outshoorn, 1986) and euthanasia (GreenPedersen, 2007). Four, under politicized politics issues are contested and salient. For instance, this is the case for the political conflict around wearing (Islamic) headscarves in French schools in 2004. There was strong public and political disagreement on this salient issue. The political conflict on the issue was eventually contained by a law on banning headscarves. In practice, issues will often be very salient for a brief period of time. Once some kind of decision has been taken, the issue is often not high on the agenda any more, at least for a while until new changes are being proposed. So, in practice, issues will often move between being latent and being politicized.

Professionals
A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialized set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, engineers, lawyers, architects and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to Nurses, accountants, educators, scientists, technology experts, social workers, Artists and many more. The term is also used in sports to differentiate amateur players from those who are paid hence "professional footballer" and "professional golfer". Many companies include the word professional in their store name to signify the quality of their workmanship or service. In some cultures, the term is used as shorthand to describe a particular social stratum of well educated, mostly salaried workers, who enjoy considerable work autonomy, a comfortable salary, and are commonly engaged in creative and intellectually challenging work. Due to the personal and confidential nature of many professional services, and thus the necessity to place a great deal of trust in them, most professionals are subject to strict codes of conduct enshrining rigorous ethical and moral obligations. The main criteria for professional include the following: 1. Expert and specialized knowledge in field which one is practicing professionally; 2. Excellent manual/practical and literary skills in relation to profession;

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3. High quality work in (examples): creations, products, services, presentations, consultancy, primary/other research, administrative, marketing, photography or other work endeavors; 4. A high standard of professional ethics, behavior and work activities while carrying out one's profession (as an employee, self-employed person, career, enterprise, business, company, or partnership/associate/colleague, etc.). The professional owes a higher duty to a client, often a privilege of confidentiality, as well as a duty not to abandon the client just because he or she may not be able to pay or remunerate the professional. Often the professional is required to put the interest of the client ahead of his own interests; 5. Reasonable work morale and motivation. Having interest and desire to do a job well as holding positive attitude towards the profession are important elements in attaining a high level of professionalism; 6. Appropriate treatment of relationships with colleagues. Consideration should be shown to elderly, junior or inexperienced colleagues, as well as those with special needs. An example must be set to perpetuate the attitude of one's business without doing it harms; 7. A professional is an expert who is a master in a specific field. The relatively well-off groups of cooperative farmers, other land-owning farmers, agronomists, diploma agriculturists, engineers, diploma engineers, physicians, rural doctors, teachers, lawyers, journalists, artists, literatures, cultural activists, writers, social workers, shopkeepers, small and medium businessmen, commercial executives, factory owners, executives of government and non-government organizations, officers and members of the village defense force, Anzacs, Police, Border Defense Force and Armed Forces make up the body of professionals in Bangladesh. They are known as professionals for the kind of work they do and for the kind of social status and technical know-how they possess. Their number stands at about 9 million.

Governance
The concept of "Governance" is not new. It is as old as human civilization. Simply put, "Governance" means: The process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented). Governance means exercising political power to manage a nation affair. Today, governance is seen as a reflection of the role of the state in giving direction to a country and political regime for development. Governance can be used in several contexts such as corporate governance, international governance, national governance and local governance. Though its importance has got universal acceptance, it is not defined in a uniform way by the theoreticians and practitioners. Even, there is no widely accepted single definition of governance itself. The 1992 Commission of Global Governance defines governance as the sum of the many ways individuals and institutions, public and private, manage their common affairs. The World Bank defines governance as the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a countrys economic and social resources. The UNDP views governance as the exercise of economic, political and administrative authority to manage a countrys affairs at all

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levels. Government is one of the main actors in governance. It also has some other actors. In rural areas, for example, other actors may include influential land lords, associations of peasant farmers, cooperatives, NGOs, institutes, religious leaders, , political parties, the military etc. The situation in urban areas is much more complex. Following Figure provides the interconnections between actors involved in urban governance. At the national level, in addition to the above actors, media, lobbyists, donors, Multinational Companies, etc. may play a role in decisionmaking. Similarly formal government structures are one means by which decisions are arrived at and implemented. At the national level, informal decision-making structures, such as "kitchen cabinets" may exist. In urban areas, organized crime syndicates such as the "land Mafia" may influence decision-making. In some rural areas locally powerful families may influence decision-making. Such, informal decision-making is often leads to corrupt practices.

Urban Actors a. Good Governance In general sense good governance means an ideal governing system that is inevitable for political, economic, social and cultural development of a country. Ideal governing system means the ideal orientation of a state that works best to achieve self-reliance, sustainable development and social justice and the ideal functioning of government that operate most efficiently. The true test of "good" governance is the degree to which it delivers on the promise of human rights: civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. Good governance also includes these elements- participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law. It assures that corruption is minimized, the views of minorities are taken into account and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making. It is also responsive to the present and future needs of society. In the white paper by the Commission of the European Communities which suggests that good political governance must be: coherent; proportional;

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open; effective; participatory; and accountable. The Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has highlighted several aspects of good governance. Some of these include: The promotion of democracy and respect for human right; The strengthening of transparent, accountable, national and local government; The reinforcement of rule of law, including fair and accessible legal and judicial systems; The promotion of independent media and the dissemination of information; Anti-corruption initiatives; and Efforts to reduce excessive military expenditure.

In essence, good governance can be applied at international, national, local, and organizational levels and to manage many types of resources. Although terminology may differ, the principles of good governance as recognized worldwide are similar. b. Poor Governance For better understanding of good governance let have a look on poor governance- A World Bank booklet cogently summarized the major symptoms of poor governance. These are: Failure to make a clear separation between what is public and what is private hence a tendency to direct public resources for private gain; Failure to establish a predictable frame work of law and government behavior conducive to development or arbitrariness in the application of rules and laws; Executive rules, regulations, licensing requirements and so forth, which impede, functioning of markets and encourages rent seeking; Priorities, inconsistent with development, resulting in a misallocation of resources; Excessively narrowly based or non-transparent decision making. The other symptoms of poor governance are "excessive costs, poor service to the public and failure to achieve the aims of policy.

c. Elements/ Principles of Good Governance The principles of good governance may be showed into different ways A number of multilateral organizations like the United nations, World Bank and OECD generally equate good governance with sound economic management based on Accountability; Participation; Predictability; and Transparency. The UNDP (1977) has identified following five basic principles of good governance namely -Legitimacy and voice, Direction, Performance, Accountability, Fairness. According to D. Bandyopadhyay, some of the main elements of 'good governance' are: i. Accountability - both financial and political; ii. Transparency both financial and political; iii. Easy access to information; iv. Popular participation in decision making and implementation;

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v. Responsiveness; vi. Efficient delivery system of services and goods; and vii. Enforcement of rule of law. d. Features/ Characteristics of Good Governance Good governance must have the following 8 major characteristics-

Characteristics of Good Governance Governance of an economy embraces all macroeconomic, microeconomic and fiscal policies, public economic agencies, regulatory bodies, company laws and legal institutions connected with economic matters. The weak institutions and policies, outdated colonial laws and inefficiency of the administration resulted in creating conditions for inadequate governance in Bangladesh. There exists a weak Civil Society in Bangladesh, and that includes professional bodies, NGOs, labor unions, media people and other organizations. Poor governance stifles and impedes development. In countries like Bangladesh where there is corruption, poor control of public funds, lack of accountability, abuses of human rights and excessive military influence, development inevitably suffers. A landmark study by the World Bank, Assessing Aid What Works, What doesnt and Why (1998), demonstrated the crucial role that good governance plays in enhancing the effectiveness of aid. The study found that where there is sound country management, an additional one per cent of GDP in aid translates into a one per cent decline in poverty and a similar decline in infant mortality whereas in a weak policy and management environment aid has much less impact. Findings like this clearly indicate that the returns from development assistance are generally greater in developing countries characterized by good governance. One element of good governance that is needed for sustained development is an economy that operates in an ethical, accountable and appropriately regulated environment, which facilitates competition in the marketplace. Without this, there will be no driver for economic growth and sustainable development will not be possible. A dynamic private sector, operating in a properly functioning competitive market

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system, creates jobs and income, generates wealth and helps ensure that resources are used efficiently. Simply we can put the criteria-wise picture of good governance in Bangladesh-----I. Participation: yet to avail much II. Rule of law: far behind Transparency: that has ever remained paperwork and lip service Responsiveness: mere vague term for us Consensus Building: rather a fantasy Equity and Inclusiveness: miles to go Effectiveness and Efficiency: ever with a question mark Accountability: is it a futile term? It is needless to say, Bangladesh is far away from achieving good governance. Whats going on in this country cant be termed as democracy, the power of the government is limited to a few powerful persons and more importantly personal or party interest is greater to them. Although the expectation of the country's people is not so high, fulfillment is still beyond imagination. People living here only want the assurance of- The Basic needs of the people i.e. food, shelter, clothing, education, healthcare. Both socio-economic safeties. Enough employment opportunities for the growing population which also belong to the previous demand. In brief, people want the ruling party to give some eye-sight towards the welfare of the common people, not just thinking about their own interest.

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Part C: Research Methodology


As per the topic of the problem, to identify the actual fact and figures this is basically a qualitative research. To collect data and overall research analysis, Content Analysis and Structured Interview methods have been applied.

Sources of Data
Content Analysis: Historical data regarding growth of political parties, fragmentation and politicization of the professionals have been collected from secondary sources, i.e., through content review, which will include newspapers, periodicals, party documents such as constitutions, manifestoes, press statements etc. From the secondary sources, the historical background of the political parties before and after independence of Bangladesh, formation of major political parties, changes of regimes, characteristics of political cultures in Bangladesh have been understood. Structured Interview: Primary data have been collected from interviews. The interview of Professionals covers only the Dhaka City. The independent variables with its indicators will be checked during the interviews.

Sampling
Given the short time for this research, the sample size has been limited to 12. For interviews, purposive sampling has been used. Professions University Teacher Doctor Lawyer Engineer Journalist Total Number of Female Respondents 2 1 1 1 1 6 Number of Male Respondents 2 1 1 1 1 6 Total Number of Respondents 4 2 2 2 2 12

Validation of Data
Data collected from primary will be validated with those collected from secondary level. The primary data will also be compared with those reviews by the contemporary political analysts.

Data Processing and Analysis Plan


Simple mathematical tools have been used for data processing; To present data i. Tables, ii. Charts, iii. Graphs have been used; Analysis has been made according to indicators of the research using different variables.

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Challenges or Limitations of the Research


While preparing this research proposal, the researcher presupposes some challenges, which includes: Due to short time of period and access to the professionals was difficult the sample size has limited to a small size; Political background of the respondents is a big question, which can affect the research outcome in many aspects; Due to unavailability of video clips, researchers has just covered different publications; Researchers have to assume and relate the contents that have been found as because there were no direct content that relates to the problem.

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Part D: Research Findings (Data Presentation, Analysis and Observation)


1. Content Analysis (From Secondary Data Sources)
Publishing Year 2013 2012 Contents Internal Clash Between Teachers, Begum Rokeya University Lawyers are not Interested about cases involving State Interest RU teachers demand release of colleague RU white panel teachers to boycott 8th convocation Demand for RU VC's Removal Pro-BNP-Jamaat teachers, staff lock admin building Political influence degrades rule of law: Dr Kamal Padma Graft Conspiracy Mosharraf points finger at his boss Media important for democracy-Discussion told Absent Doctors-Political link keeps them beyond law-Says NHRC chief Political doctors Democracy and Free Media Politics, Chaos, Judges Insulted13 lawyers banned from practice Don't make court political field Courtroom Chaos Pro-AL lawyers reject SCBA offer Is SCBA a political party? Chaos at Courtroom Pardon follows apology Quantity 1 9 Daily Star 0 5 New Age 1 4

2011

Table 1: Contents Covered from Newspapers

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Categories Research Report

Quantity 2

Year of Publishing 2010

Contents Politics & Professionals: Scenario of doctors in Bangladesh & role of BMA

Author(s) M R Karim Reza & Muhammad Yusuf

Unknown

Impact of Politicization on the Recruitment of University Teachers in Bangladesh: The Case of the University of Rajshahi

Pranab Kumar Panday & Ishtiaq Jamil

Book

2002

Journalists Face Professional Challenge

Amanullah Kabir

Table 2: Contents Covered from Research Reports & Books Category-1 (University Teacher) At least 15, including six teachers of Begum Rokeya University in Rangpur, were injured on Thursday as a Chhatra League faction loyal to the vice-chancellor threw acid at and beat teachers and students rallying for the removal of the vice-chancellor. The authorities at night closed the university for an indefinite period. (New Age, January 11, 2013) More than a hundred teachers of Rajshahi University loyal to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami on Sunday demanded immediate release of one of their fellow teachers, arrested on charge of attacking police during violence in Rajshahi city on November 6. (New Age, December 24, 2012) The teachers group of Rajshahi University supporting BNP and Jamaat -e-Islami may boycott tomorrows programmes for the institutions 8th convocation, alleging that the authorities, led by the chancellor, Abdus Sobhan, are politicising the ceremony. (New Age, December 8, 2012) Over 100 pro-BNP-Jamaat teachers and staff of Rajshahi University under the banner Conscious Teachers-Officers-Employees locked the administrative building and staged a sit-in before it yesterday demanding Vice-Chancellor Prof Abdus Sobhan's removal. (Daily Star, December 06, 2012) Pranab Kumar Panday & Ishtiaq Jamil pointed on a research report that, In the mid2005, the Departmental Planning Committee recommended for recruitment of three lecturers in the Department of Public Administration. 8 candidates were applied for three posts of lecturer. Among them, two candidates had four first classes and the rest 6 had three first classes. The selection committee recruited six lecturers ignoring Departmental Planning Committees recommendation for recruitment of three

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lecturers. But, what was striking was that one candidate having four first classes did not get selection even through five candidates having three first classes managed to get selection. Some informal sources said that the candidate having four first classes was excluded since her father was involved in Awami politics. All of the above cases can be analyze according to the researcher indicators like this: Indicators Primary Impact Overall Impact Power Distance & * Exercising of Power * Moral Degradation Socio-Cultural Values * Lack of Professional * People Losing Faith Ethics on Teachers * Groups are getting * Hampering Image Benefits of Teaching * Pursuing Own Profession Interest * Values an Ethics *Power Distance is Students is getting High Affected * Overall Politicization * Students Perception on Public Universities is going Negative * Nepotism Influence of Political Parties * Direct Influence * Using as a Part of Politics * Exercising of Political Power * Insisting Dirty Political Activities * Politicization in the Administration * Causing Political Unrest * Political Corruption and Biasness

Impact on Governance

* Hindering Higher * Good Governance is Education Process under Threat * Affecting * Practicing Bad Democracy Governance * Lack of * Hindering Human Transparency Resource * Lack of Development Accountability * Dominating Mass Population Table 3: Overall Analysis (Category-1)

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Category-2 (Lawyer) THE concern expressed by the law, justice and parliamentary affairs ministry that government lawyers often represent private parties in the court of law against the interest of the state. However, ultimately, it is the failure of the political incumbents since it is them that chose to give precedence to partisan loyalty and affiliation over emphasis on merit and integrity when recruiting government lawyers. (New Age, December 27, 2012) A High Court bench yesterday banned 13 opposition-backed lawyers from practising in any court of the country, a day after it witnessed raucous protests against the two judges forming the bench. All the 13 lawyers are aligned with the main opposition BNP and its key ally Jamaat-e-Islami. Among them are also BNP lawmaker Syeda Asifa Ashrafi Papia who had allegedly hurled a plastic object at the judges during the protests, a charge she denies. (Daily Star, August 4, 2011) The Awami League Presidium Member and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Ministry Obaidul Quader has called upon the opposition not to make the court a political field. "The persons, who don't have respect for the court, obviously they don't know how to honour themselves also. Please keep all political actions outside the courtroom," he urged the opposition while addressing a discussion at Bangabandhu Bhaban of Dhanmondi in the city yesterday. (Daily Star, August 6, 2011) A group of pro-Awami League lawyers yesterday refused to attend a meeting, called by the president of Supreme Court Bar Association to overcome the ongoing tension among lawyers, created by the August 2 courtroom chaos. In connection with the chaos in a High Court room and Thursday's assault on police, some 17 pro-BNP lawyers were accused in two cases with Shahbagh Police Station. Of the accused, 13 lawyers were banned from practicing at any court of the country, and three were sent to jail. (Daily Star, August 07, 011) In Bangladesh, if a statement of an individual pertaining to so-called public interest does not make any sense or cannot be defended, the individual must be a politician. In other words, politicians are not to be taken seriously; they must enjoy immunity from the consequence of whatever nonsense they deliver to "their" people. One such statement of the leader of the opposition created hue and cry across the nation. To express her utter annoyance with the recently enacted 15th Amendment to the Constitution she said: "The amended constitution is nothing but an AL manifesto which will be thrown away when her party returns to power." The BNP chairperson committed a mistake on two counts, probably guided more by anger rather than cognisance, while making this assertion. On the one hand, the amendment, especially the contentious issue of the abrogation of the 13th Amendment was neither a part of AL manifesto nor a constituent of AL election platform. Had it been so, AL would have been within its mandated right to include it in the 15th Amendment. (Daily Star, August 10, 2011) A High Court bench yesterday pardoned and exonerated 13 pro-BNP-Jamaat lawyers from contempt of court charges after most of them apologised for staging noisy protests in the courtroom early this month. Judges AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and

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Gobinda Chandra Tagore also vacated their earlier order that banned the lawyers from practising. The lawyers, including detained BNP lawmaker Syeda Asifa Ashrafi Papia, offered unconditional apology to the judges after they were brought from Dhaka Central Jail and produced before the court. (Daily Star, August 15, 2011) All of the above incidents can be analyze according to the researcher indicators like this: Indicators Power Distance & SocioCultural Values Primary Impact *Personal Interest is High * Poor Mentality and Moral of the Lawyers *Professional Ethics is Declining *Power Distance is High *Politicization is a Bless * Direct Influence * Using as a Part of Politics * Exercising of Political Power * Insisting Dirty Political Activities *Backing Illegal Activities Overall Impact *People Loosing Faith on Judicial System * Moral Degradation * Politicization making Lawyers Violent

Influence of Political Parties

*Democratic Practice is unavailable in Political Parties *Centralize Power making the Leaders Autocratic *Political Biasness denying Mass Interest *Politicization in the Administration Impact on Governance *Violation of Rule of Law *Good Governance is *Disturbing Judicial Process Disappearing *State Interest is Low where *Making the Judicial Body Individual Interest is High Ineffective *Chaos in Law and Order *Violation of the Constitution *Accountability is Downing and Law *Poor Governance has been Achieved Table 4: Overall Analysis (Category-2)

Category-3 (Doctor) No government action is taken against the 30 percent of doctors who remain absent from work because their political affiliation places them above the law, said National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Chairman Mizanur Rahman yesterday. (Daily Star, December 16, 2012) Mostly follow hippocatic means only for personal interests. When political loyality determines the fitness over skill & merit, the systems cannot act as efficiently as it could be. As a politically conscious professional I discovered, most of the doctors leading the

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political wings of a party are doing so because of their lacking either in skill or academic qualifications in respective specialty, even though they don't believe the ideology of that political party, only to get illegal benefits. Most of the junior doctors are getting involved under the leadership of this corrupt professional leader only just to get admission in a course, for a good posting or for an academic posting. (M R Karim Reza & Muhammad Yusuf, 2010) However, some senior doctors opine that usually, intern doctors or even the senior doctors have to march or lobby with the ruling party related groups for some privileges. Since the 90s, leaders belonging to the Doctors Association of Bangladesh (DAB), a pro BNP doctors body, or SCP, have allegedly influenced the governmental recruitment and posting process whenever their main political parties came to power. (New Age, August 3, 2012)

All of the above events can be analyze according to the researcher indicators like this: Indicators Power Distance & SocioCultural Values Primary Impact *Joining Political Parties for Benefits *Personal Goal rather than Service *Weak Professional Morality & Ethics *Power Exercising is a Common Practice *Direct Influence *Giving Benefits to Party Loyalist *Using a Part of Politics *Loyalty not Service is Essential *Health Sector is Getting Weak *Accountability is a big Question to be Asked *Public Service is Unavailable *Violation of Related Law Overall Impact *Moral Degradation *Power Distance is High *Creating Politicization *Nepotism *People losing Hope on Public Health Service

Influence of Political Parties

*Mass Politicization *Abuse of Power * Political Corruption and Biasness *Encouraging other Political Activists

Impact on Governance

*Poor Governance in Overall Heath Sector * Good Governance is getting Affected *Ineffective Health Sector *Indicating that Related Policy is Weak Table 5: Overall Analysis (Category-3)

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Category-4 (Journalist) Thirdly, the media's credibility is undermined by the lack of effective internal regulation and the partisan politicisation of their professional associations. Finally, the media itself suffers from a governance crisis in that the majority of media outlet owners are members of the political and corporate elite who have vested interests in using the media as a political and business tool and in not bringing governance failures, especially instances of corruption, to light. (Daily Star, November 1, 2011) The situation has reached such an alarming state that the working journalists are divided into different political camps and often they behave more like a political worker or leader than a professional. Consequently, it has become risky on the part of reporters and photographers with the political colour of a newspaper where they work, to cover the activities of a political party having opposite political views. (Amanullah Kabir, 2002) All of the above cases can be analyze according to the researcher indicators like this: Indicators Primary Impact Overall Impact Power Distance & Socio*Joining Political Parties for *Moral Degradation Cultural Values Benefits *Power Distance is High *Personal Goal rather than *Creating Politicization Providing Service *People losing Faith on *Weak Professional Morality Media & Ethics Influence of Political Parties *Direct Influence over Media * Politicization of Media *Giving Benefits to Party Professionals Loyal Journalists *Abuse of Free Media *Using a Part of Politics * Political Interference is *Leg Pulling of Opponents Affecting Information Flow *Encouraging other Professionals Impact on Governance *Media is Ineffective *Accountability is not Ensured *Biased information *Free Media is a Myth *Poor Governance in Overall Media * Good Governance is a Myth *Ineffective & Biased Information System *Threating the Foreign Investment *Information Flow is getting Affected

Table 6: Overall Analysis (Category-4)

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Category-5 (Engineer) Retracting from his earlier statement, ex-secretary of Bridges Division Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan has told the ACC in custody that he made all decisions on the Padma bridge project in consultation with higher authorities in an oblique reference to ex-minister Syed Abul Hossain. But long before his arrest on December 26 in the Padma bridge corruption case, Mosharraf had claimed that he took the decisions on his own without consulting his then boss. Former communications minister Abul Hossain also made similar claims before a team of the AntiCorruption Commission, which was conducting enquiry into corruption allegations in the project. (Daily Star, December 31, 2012) The situation be analyze according to the researcher indicators like this: Indicators Power Distance & SocioCultural Values Primary Impact *Insisting Personal Benefits *Personal Goal rather than Providing Service *Weak Professional Morality & Ethics Overall Impact *Moral Degradation *Power Distance is High *Creating Politicization *People losing Faith Bureaucrats and Professionals * Politicization of Professional Bureaucrats by the Political Party in Power *Abuse of Power & Authority *Encouraging other Bureaucrats *Poor Governance * Good Governance is a Question to be Asked *Anti-Corruption Actions are Weak *Threating the Foreign and Private Investments *Poor Recruitment Process in Civil Service

Influence of Political Parties

*Direct Influence in Bureaucracy *Giving Benefits to Party Loyal Bureaucrats and Professionals *Using as tool of Politics *Ineffective Public Bureaucracy *Accountability is not Ensured *Hindering Public Project Activities *Transparency is not Practicing

Impact on Governance

Table 7: Overall Analysis (Category-5)

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After observing all the categories, events, and incidents Indicators showsa. Power Distance and Socio-Cultural Values are influencing Politicization of the Professionals. According to Geert Hofstede, Power distance is the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. Cultures that endorse low power distance expect and accept power relations that are more consultative or democratic. People relate to one another more as equals regardless of formal positions. Subordinates are more comfortable with and demand the right to contribute to and critique the decision making of those in power. In high power distance countries, less powerful accept power relations that are more autocratic and paternalistic. Subordinates acknowledge the power of others simply based on where they are situated in certain formal, hierarchical positions. As such, the power distance index defines does not reflect an objective difference in power distribution, but rather the way people perceive power differences. Hofstedes cultural dimensions are applying all over all society where professionals are not exception. Becoming a member of a specific group gives one special benefits and facilities including power authority which influence and attract the professionals a lot. So it is understandable, Professionals are being politicized as they are targeting personal gain, benefits, interests, and goals for a better social status. This is causing moral degradation, weak ethical value, corruption, nepotism, biasness, lack of professional ethics and so on. Behind the scene there are so other causes that are also insisting professionals to being politicized. As we view the traditional system of politics in Bangladesh from the British Colonial time the professionals was in politics directly or indirectly. So it is kind of tradition as the professionals practices politics. The socio-economic factor is big concerns which tempt the professionals as a high educated person to increase income and so on. Family background is also a big factor to be considered as almost every family is biased of two major political party of Bangladesh. From this family background professionals also motivated to join in politics. So it can be said that the professionals are being politicized as the power distance in the society is high and socio-cultural background is influencing to be politicized to achieve the personal gain and also the reputation building. b. Political Parties are influencing Professionals to be Politicized. Political parties politicize overall governance process to get the ultimate benefit and policy implementation. Professionals are also a part of this politicization profess. In the case of developed countries this politicization process has a positive impact all over the state activities. But in countries like Bangladesh the politicization process does not benefit the state activities rather it is just for the benefit of party achievement and step towards hold the power for a long time. In Bangladesh professionals are getting politicized where political parties have a great influence. The reasons behind this politicization are:

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Use the professionals a part of politics; To hold the power for a long time with support of the professionals; Making the overall governance process so that the parties can establish an autocratic ruling system where they will not be accountable for their activities; Implementing the policy taken for the interest of the party not for the mass people; Hiding corruption and illegal activities for own benefits.

The system of give and take is ultimate process of politicization of professionals. Parties are offering benefits to the professionals as to be part loyal. This is how political parties are politicizing professionals: Offering Nomination in the elections; Backing them when they are related to illegal activities; Chairing them in the high level of government; Not asking for their actions which is hindering governance process; Rewarding the professional bureaucrats by promotion, financial remuneration, posting in favorable area; Involving them in party high command.

This politicization is affecting in many ways which is causing state a large number. Politicization of Professionals is affecting: Corruption and illegal activities; Disturbing governance process; Decreasing the democratic practice in political parties; Making them autocratic ruler; Normal political activities are getting hamper by their inexperience and irrelevant comments.

So, the politicization of professionals is not happening by itself. There is a huge influence of political parties in the process by involving the professionals in semi-political bodies. It is clear there is no other intension other than political benefits which is tempting the political parties to politicize the professionals. c. Overall governance is affecting by the Politicization of the Professionals. Governance consists of the traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised. This includes the process by which governments are selected, monitored and replaced; the capacity of the government to effectively formulate and implement sound policies; and the respect of citizens and the state for the institutions that govern economic and social interactions among them.

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The Worldwide Governance Indicators report on six broad dimensions of governance for over 200 countries over the period 1996-2011: Voice and Accountability Political Stability and Absence of Violence Government Effectiveness Regulatory Quality Rule of Law Control of Corruption

But unfortunately in Bangladesh for being massive politicization of professionals this governance indicators are getting affected as well as the whole governance process. Accountability is not ensuring as the professionals getting benefits from the party politics are working as they want and government is not taking action against them as they are playing a key role for the political party. Political instability is occurring a high rate as the party in power prefers to work with professionals backed by the party where the oppositional professionals are protesting and being violent on the street as well as the government institutions. Government is being ineffective as the professionals are not doing their duty properly. On other hand party in power using the professionals for achieving benefits not for the public service. Regulation is getting effective as the party in power always prefer their own interest where professionals does not complain as they as backed by the party. Choosing the professionals from party causing regulation weak as low skilled and inexperienced professionals are making policy and regulation. Rule of law is getting hampered as the professionals are not interested about the public service and dont obey the rules and regulation. Constitution is just a toy which can be played by anyone and political parties are doing that. Constitutional provisions are not following as the party in power peruses its own interest using professionals. Corruption is a giant figure in current situation. No transparency and accountability giving professionals backed by the parties to do anything and illegal activities. No charges are taken in concern when any obligation comes against the professionals. So, corruption by the professionals is increasing day by day.

The scenario is not very pleasant as the governance system is getting hampered by the politicization of the professionals all over the system. Poor and bad governance is everywhere when good governance is getting a very low attention.

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2. Findings from Interview (Primary Source of Data)


From the interview has been made the different dimensions has been identified, which has been divided into different types of categories as per the answers of the respondent. On the ground of overall findings, age, gender, service length, profession the data has been presented and analyzed. a. Overall Findings Question number 01 Content Identified Levels n = 12 High Moderate Low High Moderate Low High Moderate Low High Moderate Low Negative Power Status Promotion To Survive Percentage Total

Present situation of politicization

83.33% 16.67% 0% 75% 25% 0% 91.67% 8.33% 0% 58.33% 16.67% 8.33% 16.67% 75% 50% 41.67% 25% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

02

Influence of political parties

03

Socio-cultural impact on professionals

04

Relation between power distance & politicization

05

Motivating factors to being politicized

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Question number 06

Content

Identified Levels n = 12 Positive Negative Yes No Yes No Yes No Serve the society Keep up ideology

Percentage

Total

07

08

09

10

Influence on the governance process Influence upon government in policy formation Possibility to achieve good governance Separation of professional from political sphere Role should professionals play in society & state

75% 100% 25% 75% 100% 25% 8.33% 100% 91.67% 41.67% 100% 58.33%

100%

100%

Work according to law and constitution Table 8: Overall Findings

The table is containing the analysis of overall finding. The first question is about the present situation of politicization of professionals, if we see the table, we will find that 83.33% professionals answered that professionals are highly politicized, only 16.67% answered that professionals are moderately politicized and we dont find a single one to say there is low or no politicization of professionals. In the case of second question which is about the influence of political parties in the process of politicization, we see that 75% professionals believe that political parties have high influence and 25% professionals believe that political parties have moderate influence, in third question which is about the socio-cultural impact on politicization of professional, we see that 91.67% professionals believe that there is high socio-cultural impact on politicization of professional and only 8.33% professionals believe that socio-cultural impact on politicization of professional. If we also the answer of the question about in which way politicization of professionals influence on the governance process, there we see that 75% professionals believe that politicization of professionals influence on the governance in a positive way and only 25% professionals believe that politicization of professionals influence on the governance in a negative way. But if we see the question about the possibility to achieve good governance, there 91.67% professionals believe that it is impossible to achieve good governance while the politicization of professional is still there in the governance process and

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only 8.33% professionals believe that it is possible to achieve good governance while the politicization of professional is still there in the governance process which is contradictory. In the question of motivating factors which involved professionals in politics we find four different answers (power: 75%, Status: 50%, promotion: 41.67% and to survive: 25%) here same professionals said about two or more motivate factors. In the question about the relation between power distance and politicization of professionals, we find that 58.33% professionals believe that there is high relation between power distance and politicization of professionals, 16.67% professionals believe that there is moderate relation between power distance and politicization of professionals, 16.67% also believe that there is no relation is between power distance and politicization of professionals and 8.33% believe that there is low relation between power distance and politicization of professionals. Politicization of professionals also influence upon the government in policy formation which is proved by the answer of the question number 7, here we see that 75% professionals believe that politicization of professionals influence upon the government in policy formation and only 25% professionals believe that politicization of professionals have no influence upon the government in policy formation. In the term of possibility of separating professional from politics respondent are also divided, according to 41.67% it is possible to separate and according to 58.33% it is impossible to separate professional from politics. But at the question number 10 which is about the role should play by the professionals in the society and state, all the respondent answer same, professionals should serve the society, keep up ideology and work according to law and constitution. So, it is understandable that the Politicization of the Professionals exists in Bangladesh. Power distance and socio-cultural values has a great impact on the politicization of the professionals. One of the respondents pointed out, Certainly our socio-cultural phenomena from historical background started the process. The value created with a long past history, cannot be uprooted in days or weeks. There is also political party influence in the process. Thats why one of the respondents argued that, Politics is power and that is proved by the existing political situation in Bangladesh. Both government and private professionals are controlled by the political parties who hold the supreme power. This is never ever being the good side of a democratic politics. The overall process of politicization of professionals has a great impact on governance in many aspects. It has been cleared out by one of the respondents, Politicization of professionals influences governance mostly negatively. Proper talent is not recognized, and favors are granted to Follow-Men of the party.

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b. Findings Based on Professional Variations Question number 01 Content Present situation of politicization Identified Levels High Moderate Low High Moderate Low High Moderate Low High Moderate Low Negative Teacher Lawyer Doctor Engineer Journalist n=4 n=2 n=2 n=2 n=2 50% 100% 100% 100% 100% 50% 0% 75% 25% 0% 75% 25% 0% 50% 0% 0% 50% 0% 0% 100% 0% 0% 100% 0% 0% 50% 50% 0% 0% 0% 0% 100% 0% 0% 100% 0% 0% 100% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 50% 50% 0% 100% 0% 0% 50% 0% 50% 0% 0% 0% 50% 50% 0% 100% 0% 0% 50% 50% 0% 0%

02

Influence of political parties

03

Socio-cultural impact on professionals

04

Relation between power distance & politicization

05

Motivating factors to being politicized

Power Status Promotion To Survive

75% 50% 75% 50%

100% 50% 0% 50%

50% 50% 100% 0%

50% 100% 0% 0%

100% 0% 0% 0%

06

Influence on the governance process

Positive Negative

75% 25%

50% 50%

100% 0%

50% 50%

100% 0%

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Question number

Content

Identified Levels

Teacher Lawyer Doctor Engineer Journalist n=4 n=2 n=2 n=2 n=2

07

08

09

10

Influence upon government in policy formation Possibility to achieve good governance Separation of professional from political sphere Role should professionals play in society & state

Yes No

75% 25%

100% 0%

100% 0%

100% 0%

0% 100%

Yes No Yes No Serve the society Keep up ideology

0% 100% 25% 75%

50% 50% 0% 100%

0% 100% 0% 100%

0% 100% 100% 0%

0% 100% 100% 0%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

Work according to law and constitution Table 9: Based on Professional Variations Here we analysis the primary data on the basis of professional variation. From here we can easily get the ideas of different professions. We get total 12 respondent among whom 4 teachers, 2 lawyers, 2 doctors, 2engineers, 2 journalists. If we see the answer of the question number 1, we will see that 50% teachers believe that politicization is high in present and 50% teachers believe that politicization is moderate in present but rests of the respondents of other professions believe that politicization is high in present situation. In the question of influence of political parties in the process of politicization, the answers are differs- 75% teachers believe that influence of political parties in the process of politicization is high and 25% teachers believe that influence of political parties in the process of politicization is moderate. Lawyers and doctors believe that influence of political parties is the main reason of politicization as a result in this case their percentage is 100. 50% engineers and doctors believe that influence of political parties in the process of politicization is high and 50% engineers and doctors believe that influence of political parties in the process of politicization is moderate. In the case of

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socio-cultural impact 75% teachers believe that socio-cultural impact is high and 25% teachers believe that socio-cultural impact is moderate on politicization process. But rests of the respondents of other professions believe that socio-cultural impact is high on politicization process. 50% teachers believe that there is a relation between power distance and politicization of professionals and other 50% teachers believe that there is no relation between power distance and politicization of professionals but respondents of professions believe that there is a relation between power distance and politicization of professionals. 75% teachers believe that there are positive influences on governance because of politicization, 50% lawyers and engineers believe that there are positive influences on governance because of politicization and 100% doctors and journalists believe that there are positive influences on governance because of politicization. Without 50% lawyers, rests of the respondents believe that it is impossible to achieve good governance while the process of politicization of professionals is still there in the governance process. 75% teachers believe that politicization can create strong pressure in policy formation and 100% of lawyers, doctors, engineers also believe that politicization can create strong pressure in policy formation but 100% of journalists believe that politicization cant create strong pressure in policy formation. Lawyers and doctors believe that it is impossible to separate professionals from the politics but 75% of teachers and 100% of engineers and journalists believe that it is possible to separate professionals from the politics. But about the role of professionals in society and state, opinion of all respondents of all professions is same. By analyzing the primary data we get similarities with our hypotheses socio-cultural values affect politicization of professionals, political parties influence the professional to join politics to stay in the power. It is clear that every respondent is agreeing that politicization of the professional in ongoing in a high or a moderate level. Respondents have indicated that politicization is happening in direct or indirect form in every level of the state. They also argued that it cannot be identify from when is has started but it is a long run tradition it can be assumed. All of the respondents from different profession have agreed that political parties are influencing politicization of professionals for perusing benefits, hiding illegal activities, keeping the power in hand, using as a political instrument, assuring the vote bank where in return professional gets benefited in many aspects. Among all of the respondents few thinks that there is no relation between power distance and socio-cultural environment with politicization of the professional. But maximum of them has agreed that politicization is power distance and socio-cultural environment has impact on politicization of the professionals. They have pointed out that traditional social values and high ambition to achieve social status run professionals to being politicized. In governance process politicization of professional is affecting that maximum of respondents has agreed about that. They also pointed out that in policy formulation and regulatory activities this politicization is affecting which is hindering the good governance process.

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c. Findings Based on Gender Question number 01 Content Identified Levels High Moderate Low High Moderate Low High Moderate Low High Moderate Low Negative Power Status Promotion To Survive Positive Negative Yes No Male n=6 83.33% 16.67% 0% 66.67% 33.33% 0% 83.33% 16.67% 0% 50% 33.33% 0% 16.67% 83.33% 50% 33.33% 0% 83..33% 16.67% 66.67% 33.33% 66.67% 0% 16.67% 16.67% 66.67% 50% 50% 50% 66.67% 33.33% 83.33% 16.67% 100% Female n=6 83.33% 16.67% 0% 83.33% 16.67% 0%

Present situation of politicization

02

Influence of political parties

03

Socio-cultural impact on professionals

04

Relation between power distance & politicization

05

Motivating factors to being politicized

06

07

Influence on the governance process Influence upon government in policy formation

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Question number 08

Content

Identified levels

Male n=6 16.67% 83.33% 33.33% 66.67%

Female n=6 0% 100% 50% 50%

09

10

Possibility to achieve good governance Separation of professional from political sphere Role should professionals play in society & state

Yes No Yes No Serve the society Keep up ideology

100%

100%

Work according to law and constitution Table 10: Based on Gender Here we analysis the primary data on the basis of male female ratio. We get 6 male respondent and 6 female respondent and on the basis of their opinion we analysis the data. In the case of present condition of politicization both side give same answer, 83.33% male and female respondent believe that politicization is high and 16.67% male and female respondent believe that politicization is moderate. In case of influence of political parties 66.67% male respondents believe that influence of political parties is high and 83.33% female respondents believe that influence of political parties is high. 83.33% male respondents believe that there are positive influences on governance and 66.67% female respondents believe that there is positive influences on governance and rest of the respondents believe that there are negative influences on governance. But in the case of possibility to achieve good governance 83.33% male and 100% female respondents believe that it is impossible to achieve good governance while the politicization process of professionals is still there in the governance which is contradictory to each other. In all of the questions male-female ratio shows most of the respondent are agreeing about the present situation, influence of political parties, influence of socio-cultural environment, influence of power distance, motivation behind politicization, impact on governance, impact on policy formulation, possibility to achieve good governance, and what type of role should play by the professionals. Ratios can be varied but in consideration of maximum male-female ratio is quite same about these questions. But in the case of separation of politics and professionals the ratio varies a lot. Male respondents are more negative than the female respondents that it is impossible to separate. While female respondents in 50:50 ratio pointing it is possible with reforming overall system which will take time to achieve.

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d. Findings Based on Age Difference Question number Content Identified Levels Age (25-40) yr n=5 80% 20% 0% 100% 0% 0% 100% 0% 0% 100% 0% 0% 0% 80% 60% 80% 20% 100% 0% 60% 40% Age (41-55) yr n=5 100% 0% 0% 80% 20% 0% 100% 0% 0% 40% 20% 20% 20% 60% 60% 20% 40% 40% 60% 100% 0% Age (56-70) yr n=2 50% 50% 0% 0% 100% 0% 50% 50% 0% 0% 50% 0% 50% 100% 0% 0% 0% 100% 0% 50% 50%

01

Present situation of politicization

High Moderate Low High Moderate Low High Moderate Low High Moderate Low Negative Power Status Promotion To Survive Positive Negative Yes No

02

Influence of political parties

03

Socio-cultural impact on professionals

04

Relation between power distance & politicization

05

Motivating factors to being politicized

06

07

Influence on the governance process Influence upon government in policy formation

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Question number

Content

Identified Levels

Age (25-40) yr n=5 0% 100% 20% 80%

Age (41-55) yr n=5 20% 80% 60% 40%

Age (56-70) yr n=2 0% 100% 50% 50%

08

09

10

Possibility to achieve good governance Separation of professional from political sphere Role should professionals play in society & state

Yes No Yes No Serve the society Keep up ideology

100%

100%

100%

Work according to law and constitution Table 11: Based on Age Difference Here we analysis the primary data on the basis of age variation. We divided the age of respondent into 3 different steps those are (25-40), (41-55), (56-70), we can call these steps: (25-40) as group A, (41-55) as group B, (56-70) as group C. At group A, we get 5 respondents, at group B we got 5 respondents and at group C we get 2 respondents. 80% respondent of group A, 100% respondent of group B and 50% respondent of group C believe that politicization is high in present situation. In case of influence of political parties 100% respondent of group A and 80% respondent of group B believe that influence of political parties is high but 100% respondent of group C believe that influence of political parties is moderate. 100% respondent of group A and B, 50% respondent of group C believe that there is socio-cultural impact on politicization. In case of influences on governance 100% respondent of group A and C think that politicization has positive influence on governance but 100% respondent of group A and C, 80% of group B think that it is impossible to achieve good governance in politicized situation.

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e. Findings Based on Service Length Question number Content Identified Levels Length of service (1-15)yr n=6 83.33% 16.67% 0% 100% 0% 0% 100% 0% 0% 83.33% 16.67% 0% 0% 83.33% 66.67% 66.67% 16.67% 100% 0% Length of service (16-30)yr n=4 100% 0% 0% 75% 25% 0% 100% 0% 0% 50% 0% 25% 25% 50% 50% 25% 50% 25% 75% Length of service (31-45)yr n=2 50% 50% 0% 0% 100% 0% 50% 50% 0% 0% 50% 0% 50% 100% 0% 0% 0% 100% 0%

01

Present situation of politicization

High Moderate Low High Moderate Low High Moderate Low High Moderate Low Negative Power Status Promotion To Survive Positive Negative

02

Influence of political parties

03

Socio-cultural impact on professionals

04

Relation between power distance & politicization

05

Motivating factors to being politicized

06

Influence on the governance process

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Question number

Content

Identified Levels

Length of service (1-15)yr n=6 66.67% 33.33% 16.67% 83.33% 16.67% 83.33%

Length of service (16-30)yr n=4 100% 0% 0% 100% 75% 25%

Length of service (31-45)yr n=2 50% 50% 0% 100% 50% 50%

07

08

09

10

Influence upon government in policy formation Possibility to achieve good governance Separation of professional from political sphere Role should professionals play in society & state

Yes No Yes No Yes No Serve the society Keep up ideology

100%

100%

100%

Work according to law and constitution Table 12: Based on Service Length Here we analysis the primary data on the basis of service length variation. We divided the service length of respondent into 3 different steps, these are (1-15), (16-30), (31-45), namely we can call these steps: (1-15) as group A, (16-30) as group B and (31-45) as group C. If we see the answer of the question number 1, we will find that 83.33% respondents of group A, 100% respondents of group B and 50% respondents of group C believe that politicization is high in present situation. 100% respondents of group A and 75% respondents of group B believe that there is high influence of political parties in the process of politicization of professionals. But 100% respondents of group C believe that there is moderate influence of political parties in the process of politicization of professionals. 100% respondents of group A and group B, 50% respondents of group C believe that there is high socio-cultural impact on politicization of professionals. 100% respondents of group A and group C believe that politicization of professionals have positive influences on the governance process but 75% respondents of group B believe that politicization of professionals have negative influences on the governance

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process. 100% respondents of group B and group C and 83.33% respondents of group A believe that it is impossible to achieve good governance while the politicization process of professionals is still there in the governance process. 83.33% respondents of group A and 50% respondents of group B believe that there are high relation between power distance and politicization of the professionals. But 50% respondents of group C believe that there are no relation between power distance and politicization of the professionals. Overall Observation After observing all aspects of the findings it is understandable that about politicization of professionals there are different types of perceptions among the respondents. But in maximum cases respondents are agreeing in the same ground. On the basis of findings the findings from the interview can be summarized like this: Politicization of the professionals at the moment is very high. It exists everywhere of the system, in some case it visible and for some it is invisible. From traditional point of view politicization of the professional is practicing from a long time of period. Political parties are influencing politicization as they are benefiting from it and able to pursue own interests. Illegal activities, holding power for long time, nepotism, corruption, vote bank assurance is also some key factor for which political parties are providing facilities to the professionals. Socio-cultural environment forces professionals to join in politics. Family background, political culture, economic situation, work environment, politicized system are the main reasons behind it. Power distance has a great influence in politicization of professionals. Social status maintaining, high ambitions, benefits of grouping, power authority are causing politicization of professionals. Mainly professionals are being motivating to join politics for power, status, promotion, and to survive. By joining politics they can get these things easily. Politicization of the professionals is affecting negatively the overall governance. Hindering the public service and development, downing service quality and public dissatisfaction is occurring for this reason. By joining politics professionals are able to influence policy formulation where they pursue their own interest rather than public demand. Politicized professionals also insist party interest in the policy formulation. Good governance cannot be achieved where politicization of professionals is massive. Lack of accountability, nontransparent, violation of rule of law, corruption is a common aspect as politicization of professionals is a regular practice in Bangladesh.

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Politics and professionals cannot be separated as the respondent mentioned. As the politics and professionals depends on each other. For separation the system has to be reformed in various levels. Preferably the professionals should do their service, keep up the professional ideologies, and obey the law and constitution. Being politicized the professionals got power which makes them monster.

3. Linking Findings from Primary and Secondary Data


Data founded from primary and secondary sources has been linked with following manners: a. Power Distance and Socio-Cultural Influence: From primary source it has been seen that power distance and socio-cultural environment affects the politicization of professionals. From family to work environment and personal ambition to social status influenced the process of politicization of professional. On other hand in secondary source it has been proved that power distance and socio-cultural environment causes politicization of professionals. So, according to the hypothesis it can be said that power distance and socio-cultural environment influence the politicization of professionals. b. Political Parties Influence Politicization of Professionals: Both of sources show that political parties are influencing politicization of professionals. For benefits of the parties, hiding illegal activities, hold power for long time, pursuing interest in policy formulation, assuring vote bank, making obstacle to governance is the reasons behind the party influence in politicization of professionals. c. Impact on Governance: Secondary source of data shows that politicization of professionals is affecting governance in negative way where accountability, transparency, rule of law, anti-corruption initiatives, well prepared policy and regulation is lacking all the way towards poor and bad governance. On other hand primary source of data ensured the information referring that, politicians and professionals both has to blame for this situation. Meanwhile it also pointed out that, politics and professionals cannot be separated but professionals should do their own work besides practicing politics and should obey the law and professional ethics for better service and future development of the country. In both of the sources it has been showed that, good governance is lacking behind as the politicization of professionals has been a common practice within the country.

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Part E: Concluding Remarks & References


Concluding Remarks
Politicization of the professionals is taking a gigantic look as the current picture shows. It needed to be stopped as if the good governance and overall development has to be done. For the removal of politicization of professionals and to ensure good governance following steps must be taken in concern. Role of Parliament Bangladesh has a parliamentary democracy following independence in 1971 in which establishment of a sovereign legislature was sought. The main thrust was to ensure the sovereignty of the people exercised through a democratically elected representative body called the legislature. Therefore the parliament has significant role to improve the quality of governance which needs Strong parliamentary leadership: Parliament has a lead role to play in raising issues and putting them on the national agenda. Strong supporting institutions remain essential to ensuring the effective implementation actor such as civil society and the private sectors create a committee for accountability to build consensus on strengthening parliament across party lines. The role of Individual MPs: Strengthening individual Member of Parliaments (MP) accountability Candidates provide important information prior to nomination, including the declaration of assists and any previous criminal record. Once individuals are elected to parliament, the process should allow for dismissal if it is proven that MPs had falsified their declaration. Parliamentary Procedure: According to IACC (1999), South Africa, the following efforts should be taken for effective parliamentary procedure: Ensure fair and effective use of power; Establish a televised 'question hour', where Prime Minister and other Ministers are subject to direct daily questioning; Discuses and debate corruption issues more frequently in the parliament; Ensure fair treatment of all MPs in time allocation and attendance in the parliament. Institutional capacity building: For building institutional capacity the following steps should be followed: Separate the parliamentary secretariat form the public service and ensure its political neutrality;

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Recruit and train parliamentary staff in relevant fields; Establish a research support unit within the parliament, Provide intra-regional training for MPs Strengthening parliamentary oversight: According to Public Administration Reform Commission (PARC), reports the following recommendations are necessary for effective parliamentary oversight: Each MP should be given an office, a personal staff and a small fund to collect information; MPs should undergo training about the working of the government and rules relating to the parliament; The standing committees on Ministries should normally submit their written reports to the parliament regularly; Some important parliamentary committee may be headed by opposition Members.

Ensure Sound System of Education Where there is illiteracy, there is a difficulty in ensuring good governance. The citizens can acquire qualities of good governance only through literacy. The people should have the sense of understanding political problems. They should possess such qualities as sacrifice, sympathy, selfless service of the country, discipline, fraternity, etc. Education system must make sound to build up future leaders for the country. High Moral Standard The success of good governance also depends on the high moral standard of the people as well as of the government. Where there is dishonesty, black-marketing, hoarding and smuggling and where the ministers and public servants are corrupt, the question of the success of good governance does not arise. People should have the spirit of patriotism, discipline, self-control, and honesty in payment of taxes and willing obedience to the laws of the land. Law and Order The maintenance of law and order in society by the government is another essential condition for the success of good governance. Anarchy prevails where government fails to maintain law and order and the peoples faith in government is shaken. They look towards dict atorship in order to get rid of anarchy. Independent Judiciary For the successful functioning of government, people are given fundamental rights and written constitutions are introduced with a view to checking autocratic activities of the government. Where there are no written constitutions, the government can extend and exercise its powers in an autocratic manner. Judiciary is the guardian of Constitution and fundamental rights, and the independence of judiciary from the control of executive has been guaranteed. Such a step

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will be a great leap forward towards achieving full independence for the judiciary as affirmed by Articles 94 and 116A of the Constitution. Efficient Bureaucracy In the time-bound 'games' of dependency and interdependency per government cycle, the bureaucracy is politicized and polarized. At the end, the departing government leaves behind a more powerful but relatively less competitive bureaucracy. The bureaucracy mentioned could be detrimental to the welfare of the majority of Bangladeshis. This bureaucratic crisis is earnestly being stopped. The absence or the weak presence of balanced and constructive pluralism in local and national governance can isolate a country's bureaucracy and the ruling political parties from the rest of the country's population. Reform of Police Department In Bangladesh, police are mostly used by the ruling party as a weapon to curb the opposition. In most cases, police are engaged to control political drama (hartal, procession, blocked etc) rather than controlling other obligatory duties like maintaining law and order and curb terrorists etc. Appointment of police, their promotion, transfer etc are mostly done on the basis of political criteria rather than merit, experience and seniority. Sometimes police personnel are sent on forced retirement, made officers on special duty (OSD), given punishment and transferred for political reasons. So clear and distinct principles should be made in their appointment, promotion, demotion to ensure that their jobs are done smoothly, fairly and efficiently and that is one of the important aspects to establish good governance. To keep out police from political influence self-governing police department may be formed like army, navy and air force. To stop corruption in the police department, active counterintelligence and training on moral issues, increase the salary-bonus, housing facilities, exemplary punishment for crime and irregularities etc. may be given. Women Empowerment The constitution of Bangladesh contains the provision of gender equality, prohibition of gender basis of discrimination and extension of opportunities for women in all spheres of civic life. It is also stated in the constitution that the local government institutions be composed of representatives of peasants, workers and women (Article 9); steps will be taken to ensure participation of women in all spheres of national life (article 10). Equality Everywhere Good governance does not recognize class distinctions. It is based on social, economic and political equality. In good governance all are equal before law and there is no discrimination on the basis of caste, color, religion, sex and economic status. Economic equality does not mean that everybody should be given equal emoluments; it means equality of opportunity and a fair and open field for all. Annihilation of Corruption Corruption is the main problem in Bangladesh administration for implementation of any development program. Corruption has engrained in our society. Only it can be wiped out

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gradually through the process of institutionalization of controlling institutions and it needs a dedicated leader for institutionalization of institutions, which controls the administration. Decentralization of Powers For the success of good governance, decentralization of powers is essential. The concentration of power makes the government autocratic. Directly elected local governments should be established according to Articles 59 and 60 of the constitution with proper powers and independence and the respective local administration with its officials and staff must be vested in the direct control of the local governments. This will on the one hand, decentralize administrative power, functions and responsibilities and as a result channel-based corruption and conspiracy. Independent Anti-Corruption Commission The Independent Anti-Corruption Commission will prove to be sufficiently independent and bold to punish corruption in high places of the government. We must eliminate corruption to help the institutions of good governance function. Political Stability in Parliamentary System There is the issue of political stability in the parliamentary system. The remarkable clause in the constitution allowing the elected parliament to increase their number by 10% had an unexpected effect. It made the governments more stable by allowing the party with the largest number of seats to amplify their position if less than a majority into a majority position. This clause of the constitution having lapsed the next decade may well see the need for coalition governments. Such coalitions are threatened by partners deserting the opposition and causing either a change in government or another election. Freedom of Media and Speech The media, both print and electronic, play an important role in molding public awareness. Unfortunately, the media especially in Bangladesh, especially the state-run ones are controlled by the ruling party. In that state it is a quite tough job to ensure good governance. So to keep the media out of political and bureaucratic interference, a separate media regulatory commission may be formed. For the transparency within the government fabrics Radio and TV should immediately be given autonomy. Operation of private TV channels should be allowed. Transparency and accountability cannot be achieved without an informed public. Establishment of an Effective Democracy Politicians should stop from delivering irresponsible and antagonistic speech is to get political benefit in a national crisis. Both the government and the opposition should work under democratic norms and values instead of confrontation and egoism. A country may have vast resources but still can remain poor if it does not have good governance. Good governance is characterized by an accountable government at the top, an independent and affordable judicial system, freedom of thought and expression, and above all, freedom of choice for its citizenry.

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Independent, Impartial and Periodical Elections Independent, impartial and periodical elections help in establishing faith of the people and the opposition, otherwise the opposition party will not get an opportunity to form the government and there will be no respect for public opinion. In the absence of independent, impartial and periodical elections, the opposition parties shall try to change the government by a revolution with the help of military or by the use of violent force. Ensuring active participation of the opposition in Parliament It is a common practice in Bangladesh that in every session the opposition parties are not participating in parliament to speak for the people. We have to take steps to stop this bad practice in the future. Incentive Mechanism People are rational human beings who respond to incentives. To develop a set of incentives we need to set reform programs, which depends on change-agents, and identifying what are the change-agents. We need to point out the need of incentives for good performances of government servants. Government reforms need to be linked to incentives. Incentives can bring changes in each society. Institutional Management Developing institutional capacity should get priority. A strategy is required for ensuring accountability and transparency, also suggesting introduction of performance evaluating systems for the institutions and incentives for good performance. Role of Private Sector In Bangladesh, the private sector has not been an effective voice against public sector mismanagement as because businesses have no time to waste by raising voice, as time is money. Moreover, there is a tendency amongst executives, the civil society to find everything politically divided, and therefore they conclude there is no basis for collective actions. Public institutions are damaged due to poor management and ineffective public services. Basic collective actions are required in this context. There should be alternative dispute settlement methods. We need to see again and again why the private sector does not stand together to become an active voice. As a matter of fact, interest groups are fragmented and collective class action does not exist in reality during the time of change with product differentiations and market segments. Once there was a consciousness among some cadres of certain codes of behavior or ethics that they identified with as a whole. This kind of class-consciousness worked well to bind the group together with a prescription of action. With the passage of time, we would not be able to figure out how one can regenerate this kind of a feeling. But already in the process, corrupt bureaucracy has led to regulatory capture by the private sector Establish Office of the Ombudsman Ombudsman is mandatory for ensuring transparency, accountability and efficiency in the system of governance. It is absolutely necessary for a country like Bangladesh, which has already been ranked as the most corrupt country in the world. It helps protect individual

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against executive mistakes, protect legal status of individuals, act as impartial agent of citizen, promote transparency and prevent corruption. So Ombudsman must be independent, have power of investigation, given annual report, have a clearly defined jurisdiction and a man of integrity, honesty and outstanding merit should be appointed as an ombudsman. Public Expenditure Management To increase or promote greater transparency in budgetary process is needed a public expenditure management. If reforms are carried out successfully, it will touch on many other aspects of governance, including anti-corruption, improving the management efficiency, transparency and accountability. From the above discussion it should be clear that politicization of professionals is difficult to remove totally. Very few countries and societies have come close to removal of this process governance in totality. In Bangladesh Many issues and problems are the barriers to ensuring removal of politicization of professionals. Although a lot of measures are needed to be taken for ensuring removal of the process. Yet, I think, utmost importance needs to be given on making parliament effective by strong leadership, building institutional capacity and strengthening parliamentary oversight to the best interest of removing politicization of the professionals. As an optimist, I believe, if sincere efforts can be taken for implementing the above-mentioned steps to make parliament effective and the House plays its role sincerely, Bangladesh will be a model to the remaining world. Discussion and debate continue throughout the world about the meaning and dimensions of topic. Yet consensus still eludes as to the accepted and authoritative meaning of the term. The quest for consensus is linked with using the term as a 'tool kit' to understand and analyze the relationship among various governmental institutions and other organizations and group operating within the society. Although a lot of measures need to be taken for ensuring removal of politicization of the professionals, yet I think utmost importance needs to be given to make our parliament efficient and strong by strong leadership, building institutional capacity and strengthening parliamentary oversight in the best interest of the topic. I hope, if sincere efforts can be taken for implementing the above-mentioned steps to make our parliament effective and it can play its role sincerely good governance will be ensured. On the other extreme, the oppositions, civil society, social groups and organizations also have the moral obligations to help and cooperate with the governments in this juncture.

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References Institutionalization of Democracy in the Political Parties in Bangladesh Does culture


matter? (2010) , Md. Saidur Rahman; Students involvement in party politics in Bangladesh: the impact on HE and national development, Gazi Mahabubul Alam and Mirja Mohammad Shahjamal; Civil Society in Bangladesh: Vibrant but not Vigilant (2007), Farhat TASNIM; The Vicious Cycle of Administrative Politicization in Bangladesh, Ferdous Jahan and Asif Mohammad Shahan; Impact of Politicization on the Recruitment of University Teachers in Bangladesh: The Case of the University of Rajshahi, Pranab Kumar Panday; http://en.wikipedia.org; Problems and Possibilities of Good Governance in Bangladesh: Hurdles to Achieve Sustainable Development (2011), Md. Miraj Hossen and Kazi Atif Anwar; The Stuggling Democracy of Bangladesh (2002), Amanullah Kabir; From Government to Governance (2009), Mohammad Mohabbat Khan; Public Administration in Bangladesh (2006), Ferdous Jahan; Party Government and Partisan Government (20th Anniversary Supplement-The Daily Star, 2012), Dr. Mizanur Rahman Shelley; Politics & Professionals: Scenario of doctors in Bangladesh & role of BMA (2010), M R Karim Reza & Muhammad Yusuf; D. Bandyopadhyay, "Administration decentralization and good governance", Towards Good Governance, eds; chopa, S.K., Konark publishers Pvt. Ltd. Delhi-, p.32, 1997; Patterns of politicization: A three-country comparison on the evolution of the migration issue in response to 9/11, Joost Berkhout, Wouter van der Brug and Laura Sudulich, University of Amsterdam, Department of Political Science; Problems and Possibilities of Good Governance in Bangladesh: Hurdles to Achieve Sustainable Development (2011), Md. Miraj Hossen & Kazi Atif Anwar; Hofstede, Geert H. and Hofstede, Geert Jan, 2005. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind.

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