Inclusive Governance in South Asia : Parliament, Judiciary and Civil Service

This edited volume explores the state of inclusive governance in South Asia. It particularly examines the nature and scope of inclusiveness noticed in the parliament and civil service in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, and the judiciary in Bangladesh. Where previous literature has stressed the need for the inclusion of external stakeholders, this volume highlights the importance of the involvement of internal stakeholders. This includes ‘insiders’ such as opposition members and government backbenchers in parliament and specialists in the civil service. The main emphasis is on identifying the extent to which insiders in different institutions have the scope to participate in the governing process. Furthermore, this volume also seeks to assess the implications of inclusiveness/exclusiveness for democratic governance. By exploring the link between inclusiveness and accountability, its contributors are able to draw out the strengths and weaknesses of the existing mechanisms of accountability, particularly social accountability. This innovative collection will appeal to students and scholars of gender and development studies, public policy and administration, international relations, law and political science. Contents 6 Notes on Contributors 8 Abbreviations 12 List of Figures 15 List of Tables 16 Preface 17 Chapter 1: Introduction 20 References 38 Chapter 2: ‘Lobby Fodder or Fearless Champions?’ The Role of Backbenchers in Holding Government to Account 39 The Role and Function of a Backbencher 40 What Factors Shape the Role of a Backbencher? 41 New Pressures on Backbenchers 43 The Power of Backbench Dissidence 44 Procedure and Culture 47 Westminster Renaissance: The Speaker and a Backbenchers’ ‘Bill of Rights’ 49 Lessons to be Learnt 55 References 56 Chapter 3: Including the Excluded: Government Backbenchers and Opposition in the Parliamentary Process in Bangladesh 57 Development of Parliament and Procedures in Bangladesh 60 Backbench Activism in Parliament 63 The Opposition in the Parliamentary Process 67 Opposition and Government Backbenchers in Committees: Collusion or Collaboration? 68 Toward an Inclusive Parliament: Assessing the Experience 71 Conclusion 75 References 77 Chapter 4: Parliamentary Opposition and Government Backbenchers in India 79 Parliament in India 80 Parliamentary Opposition in India 81 The Ruling Party and the Opposition in Parliament in the 1950s 81 Parliamentary Opposition in the 1970s 84 Parliamentary Opposition in the 1990s 85 The Backbencher in the Indian Parliament 90 Parliamentary Opposition and the Institutional Complex of Parliament 92 Scope for Backbench Activism 93 The Departmentally Related Standing Committees (DRSCs) 94 Conclusion 95 References 98 Chapter 5: Government Backbenchers and Opposition in Unsettled Political Environment: The Case of Nepal 100 Regime Types, Instability and Opposition 101 Party Dominance and Dissenters 104 Issue of Inclusion 104 Parties and Opposition 108 Fallacy of Constitution-Making 109 Dilemma of Democratization 112 References 114 Chapter 6: The Inclusivity Role of the Judiciary in Bangladesh 115 Inclusive Governance and the Role of the Judiciary 116 Social Inclusion, Social Justice, and the Judiciary13 120 The Judiciary and Women’s Participation in Governance 123 Protection of Indigenous Peoples’ Autonomy and Cultural Diversity 125 Conclusions 130 References 135 Chapter 7: Inclusive Governance for Enhancing Professionalism in Civil Service: The Case of Bangladesh 139 Governance, Inclusive Governance, and Specialist–Generalist Conflict: A Theoretical Framework 142 Governance and Inclusive Governance 142 Conflict Between Specialists and Generalists 146 A Theoretical Framework Encompassing Inclusive Governance and Specialist–Generalist Conflict 148 Relations Between Specialists and Generalists in Bangladesh: Historical Evolution and the Current Situation 150 Inclusive Governance in Bangladesh and Opportunities for the Future 154 References 157 Chapter 8: The Interface Between the Generalists and Professionals: The Indian Experience 160 Historical Genesis 161 Globalization and Administrative Change 167 Professionalizing Administration: The National Institute of Transforming India (NITI) 169 Concluding Observations 176 References 180 Chapter 9: Generalists and Specialists Service Career: A Case of the Nepalese Civil Service 181 Overview of the Nepalese Civil Service 183 Generalist Service Career in Nepal 185 Specialist Service Career in Nepal 186 Relationship Between Generalists and Specialists 187 Case 1: Specialist Employees from Ministry of Health Versus Generalist Secretary from the Administrative Service 188 Case 2: Supreme Court Verdict, Government Needs to Be Clear on Generalization or Specialization in Civil Service 188 Case 3: Sociologists as Specialist Career Service Struggling for Career Development 189 Clustering of Services and Resolution of Conflict? 190 Conclusion 191 Reference 191 Chapter 10: Social Accountability for Inclusive Governance: The South Asian Experience 193 Delineating Social Accountability 194 Social Accountability Tools and Interventions 196 Experience of Social Accountability in South Asia 197 Bangladesh 198 India 201 Nepal 204 Pakistan 205 Conclusion 205 References 206 Chapter 11: Public Hearing for Social Accountability: Examining the Rationale and Realities in Bangladesh 207 Public Hearings: Conceptual Clarification 209 State-Centric Perspective: Legislative Meaning 209 Society-Centric Perspective: Civic Meaning 210 Social Accountability 211 Public Hearing for Social Accountability: The Linkage 212 Public Hearing in Bangladesh: Review of Contemporary Experiences 213 Trends in Public Hearing 214 CSOs and Public Hearing 214 Statutory Bodies and Public Hearing 215 Government and Public Hearing 215 Parliament and Public Hearing 216 Assessing the Trend 219 Challenges to Institutionalizing Public Hearings 221 Conclusion 224 References 225 Chapter 12: Decentralized Planning and Budgeting as Social Accountability Tools: A Study of Social Accountability in Local Government in Bangladesh 228 PB and PP: The Formal Framework 232 Working of Social Accountability Mechanisms: Identifying the Trend 236 Explaining the Trend 238 The Case for PP and PB 240 Conclusion 243 References 245 Chapter 13: Democracy, Inclusive Governance and Social Accountability in South Asia 248 Democracy 249 Governance 254 Inclusiveness and Social Accountability 257 Conclusion 260 References 262 Chapter 14: Governance for Inclusive Development in South and East Asia: A Comparison of India and China 263 Inclusive Development and Democracy 265 Inclusive Growth in China and India: An Overview 268 Institutions of Public Participation in China and India 277 Discussion and Conclusion 280 References 281 Index 286 Front Matter ....Pages i-xxiii Introduction (Nizam Ahmed)....Pages 1-19 ‘Lobby Fodder or Fearless Champions?’ The Role of Backbenchers in Holding Government to Account (Ruth Fox)....Pages 21-38 Including the Excluded: Government Backbenchers and Opposition in the Parliamentary Process in Bangladesh (Nizam Ahmed)....Pages 39-60 Parliamentary Opposition and Government Backbenchers in India (Valerian Rodrigues)....Pages 61-81 Government Backbenchers and Opposition in Unsettled Political Environment: The Case of Nepal (Lok Raj Baral)....Pages 83-97 The Inclusivity Role of the Judiciary in Bangladesh (Ridwanul Hoque)....Pages 99-122 Inclusive Governance for Enhancing Professionalism in Civil Service: The Case of Bangladesh (Asif M. Shahan, Rizwan Khair)....Pages 123-143 The Interface Between the Generalists and Professionals: The Indian Experience (Bidyut Chakrabarty)....Pages 145-165 Generalists and Specialists Service Career: A Case of the Nepalese Civil Service (Bharat Raj Gautam)....Pages 167-178 Social Accountability for Inclusive Governance: The South Asian Experience (Naimur Rahman)....Pages 179-192 Public Hearing for Social Accountability: Examining the Rationale and Realities in Bangladesh (Kazi Maruful Islam, Amir M. Nasrullah, Sheela Tasneem Haq)....Pages 193-213 Decentralized Planning and Budgeting as Social Accountability Tools: A Study of Social Accountability in Local Government in Bangladesh (Shuvra Chowdhury)....Pages 215-234 Democracy, Inclusive Governance and Social Accountability in South Asia (Subhash C. Kashyap)....Pages 235-249 Governance for Inclusive Development in South and East Asia: A Comparison of India and China (Bill Chou, Ahmed Shafiqul Huque)....Pages 251-273 Back Matter ....Pages 275-287 This edited volume explores the state of inclusive governance in South Asia. It particularly examines the nature and scope of inclusiveness noticed in the parliament and civil service in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, and the judiciary in Bangladesh. Where previous literature has stressed the need for the inclusion of external stakeholders, this volume highlights the importance of the involvement of internal stakeholders. This includes?insiders? such as opposition members and government backbenchers in parliament and specialists in the civil service. The main emphasis is on identifying the extent to which insiders in different institutions have the scope to participate in the governing process. Furthermore, this volume also seeks to assess the implications of inclusiveness / exclusiveness for democratic governance. By exploring the link between inclusiveness and accountability, its contributors are able to draw out the strengths and weaknesses of the existing mechanisms of accountability, particularly social accountability Annotation This edited volume explores the state of inclusive governance in South Asia. It particularly examines the nature and scope of inclusiveness noticed in the parliament and civil service in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, and the judiciary in Bangladesh. Where previous literature has stressed the need for the inclusion of external stakeholders, this volume highlights the importance of the involvement of internal stakeholders. This includes 'insiders' such as opposition members and government backbenchers in parliament and specialists in the civil service. The main emphasis is on identifying the extent to which insiders in different institutions have the scope to participate in the governing process. Furthermore, this volume also seeks to assess the implications of inclusiveness/exclusiveness for democratic governance Nizam Ahmed, Editor. Most Of The Chapters Included In This Volume Are Revised Versions Of Papers Presented At An International Conference On Inclusive Governance In South Asia Held In Dhaka, Bangladesh, In May 2016. The Exceptions Are Chaps. 7, 10, And 14 Which Have Been Written For This Volume. The Conference Was Organized By The Public Administration And Governance Research Network And Department Of Public Administration And Governance Of The University Of Chittagong In Collaboration With The Asia Foundation (taf) And Southern University Bangladesh.--page Xxii. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.