Other
- +5
Frances Z. Brown, Zainab Usman, Erin Jones, …
{
"authors": [
"Aqil Shah"
],
"type": "other",
"centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
"centers": [
"Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
],
"collections": [],
"englishNewsletterAll": "ctw",
"nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
"primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
"programAffiliation": "SAP",
"programs": [
"South Asia"
],
"projects": [],
"regions": [
"South Asia",
"Southeast Asia"
],
"topics": [
"Political Reform",
"Democracy"
]
}
Source: Getty
Other
Democracy Deadlocked in Bangladesh
The success of democracy in Bangladesh will depend on the political elites’ ability to abandon their zero-sum rivalry and demonstrate commitment to democratic norms in their attitudes and behavior.
By Aqil Shah
Published on Apr 1, 2016
Source: Current History
Since Bangladesh made a transition to democracy in 1991, the country has held three competitive elections that resulted in a turnover of power from the incumbents to the opposition. Consolidating democracy in Bangladesh would be an important achievement because of the dearth of stable democracies in Muslimmajority countries. But equating elections with democracy or assuming that alternations in power would automatically result in the consolidation of a liberal democracy is a mistake that some social scientists call the “electoralist fallacy.” Democracy is consolidated and truly becomes the “only game in town” when elected governments govern within the bounds of the rule of law and the political opposition respects the procedures and norms of the democratic game...
About the Author
Aqil Shah
Former Visiting Scholar, South Asia Program
Aqil Shah was a visiting scholar in the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
- Global Views of Biden’s Democracy Summit
- Pakistan’s “Moderate Taliban” Strategy Won’t Hold Up—For AnyoneCommentary
Aqil Shah
Recent Work
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
More Work from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Will Russia–Armenia Relations Improve Following Pashinyan’s Re-Election?Commentary
For all the menacing rhetoric, the Armenian prime minister remains a leader with whom Putin is prepared to interact: not as an ally, but as a partner, albeit a problematic one.
Alexander Atasuntsev
- Senegal’s Debt Crisis Has Moved Its Leaders from Partners to RivalsCommentary
The impacts of the Faye-Sonko rupture could go well beyond the country’s borders.
Lesley Anne Warner
- Post-U.S. International Democracy Support: Aspiration in Search of SubstancePaper
The reinvention of democracy support needs to be carried forward without the clear leadership of one dominant player.
Richard Youngs, Thomas Carothers
- Orbán, Fidesz, and Hungary’s Populist Foreign PolicyPaper
Hungary under Viktor Orbán deployed right-wing populism as a foreign policy strategy, embedding the country in a web of illiberal transnational networks whose legacy will endure even after his April 2026 electoral defeat.
Zsuzsanna Végh
- Who Does Azerbaijan Want to See Win Armenia’s Elections?Commentary
By fueling the arguments of both supporters and opponents of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijan wants to ensure he is re-elected with a weaker mandate.
Bashir Kitachaev
