The Bureaucratic Ascendancy : Public Administration in Bangladesh : The First Three Decades
Contents: Preface. 1. The political system and bureaucracy : currents and crosscurrents. 2. Bureaucracy and public administration : development and trends in the first decade. 3. Bureaucratic reforms, 1972-1981 : Revitalizing the civil service. 4. The National administration : organizational arrangements and operating methods. 5. Public Service Commission: Genesis, structure and problems. 6. Civil Service Management: the need for reform. 7. Recruitment and training: bureaucratic intervention. 8. Bureaucracy and rural development; politics, policies and institutions. 9. Local development planning : political and bureaucratic imbroglio. 10. State enterprises : policy changes and implications. 11. Governance reforms : bureaucratic inertia and political inaction. 12. Bureaucratic politics : Internal and external dimensions. Index.
"Since independence in 1971, Bangladesh experienced several forms of government -- pseudo-democratic, military and democratic. Colonial rule left an indelible mark on the machinery of government and many of the institutional attributes of the administrative legacy still influence the nature and role of the bureaucracy. A peculiar bureaucratic culture crystallized over the years and has had considerable influence on policy making and governance. The bureaucracy was in many ways instrumental in sustaining authoritarian rule in the country and in creating obstacles to democratic rule. Highly politicized as it is, it has been resistant to reform and protective of its status and power. Yet, within itself it is highly factionalized. The ramifications of bureaucratization have been pervasive and directly affect the common people.
This book is a collection of some of the essays the authors have written in the past two decades. It throws light on the political system and the location of the bureaucracy within it, attempts at administrative reform, civil service management, and role of the bureaucracy in development, governance issues and bureaucratic politics." (jacket)
