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Policy Making Process in Bangladesh

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 Policy Making Process in Bangladesh
Hedayet Islam Shakil, Abdullah Al Noman, Anika Afroz Hridi, Fatima kabir Sharna

Introduction:

Core principles of good governance can be used to assess the country specific practices that hinder even the
practice of good enough governance. Sarkar rightly states that an accountable and democratic governance
system is a precondition for building an institutional and policy architecture that can make those exercising
power in the governmental system accountable.

Policy science explains the role of legislature, judiciary, and bureaucracy as the prime movers of public policy,
but such approaches tend to ignore the normative aspects of such institutions. There is always a “gap between
prescriptive theory and actual practice” in understanding the role of these institutions and public policy
formulation (Howlett and Ramesh 2003).

Concept of Policy: serves justice, supports governmental institutions

and policies, and encourages active citizenship.
A policy isa deliberate system of principles to
guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A Public policy is a course or pattern of activity and
policy is a statement of intent, and is implemented not simply a decision to act in some particular way
as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally Thomas R. Dye (born December 16, 1935) is an
adopted by the Board of or senior governance Emeritus Professor of Political Science at Florida
body within an organization whereas procedures State University, says ‘Public Policy is whatever
or protocols would be developed and adopted by government choose to do or not to do’.
senior executive officers. Policies can assist in
both subjective and objective decision making. Public policy making is a continuous process that
Policies to assist in subjective decision making has many feedback loops. Verification and
would usually assist senior management with evaluation are essential to the functioning of this
decisions that must consider the relative merits of system. The public problems that influence public
a number of factors before making decisions and policy making can be of economic, social, or
as a result are often hard to objectively test political nature. Each system is influenced by
e.g. work-life balance policy. In contrast policies to different public problems and thus requires
assist in objective decision making are usually different public policy.
operational in nature and can be objectively tested In public policy making, numerous individuals and
e.g. password policy. interest groups compete and collaborate to
The term may apply to government, private sector influence policymakers to act in a particular way.
organizations and groups, as well as individuals. The large set of actors in the public policy process,
Presidential executive orders, corporate privacy such as politicians, civil servants, lobbyists, domain
policies, and parliamentary rules of order are all experts, and industry representatives, use a
examples of policy. Policy differs from rules or law. variety of tactics and tools to advance their aims,
While law can compel or prohibit behaviors (e.g. a including advocating their positions publicly,
law requiring the payment of taxes on income), attempting to educate supporters and opponents,
policy merely guides actions toward those that are and mobilizing allies on a particular issue. Many
most likely to achieve a desired outcome. actors can be important in the public policy
process, but government officials ultimately
Concept of Public Policy: choose public policy in response to the public issue
or problem at hand. In doing so, government
Public policy is the principled guide to action taken officials are expected to meet public sector ethics
by the administrative executive branches of the and take the needs of all stakeholders into
state with regard to a class of issues, in a manner account.
consistent with law and institutional customs. The
foundation of public policy is composed of national Process of Decision-Making
constitutional laws and regulations. Further
substrates include both judicial interpretations and According to Easton (1970), the policy-making
regulations which are generally authorized by process is comprised of three important stages,
legislation. Public policy is considered strong when input, with input and output. The input is
it solves problems efficiently and effectively, understood as the moment in which social

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demand presents its needs to the political actors; responsible for defining the formal agenda and
the within puts, also known as “political activity”, thus the actions to be carried out by the
consists of political actors, such as the Executive government. Politics, in this stage, is considered a
and Legislative powers. The latter is mostly powerful agenda setter because it is occupied by
responsible for deliberating demands originating politicians, administrators, ideologies and interest
from within their own political environment as groups of various descriptions which press their
well as those external to it. Finally, the output demands upon government, having an
(public policy), attained by means of interaction independent dynamic (Kingdon 1995). The visible
among a wide range of di! erent political, social participants are those who have considerable
and private actors who put many di! Errant issues public attention, such as the high level State actors
and interests to be discussed on the table (Howlett (the president, members of Congress, high-level
and Ramesh 1995; Lindblom and Woodhouse appointees, the media and campaigners) while the
1993; Kingdon 1995). hidden participants (academic specialists,
bureaucrats, and congressional staffers) are those
In the first stage (inputs) described by Easton, who support them. They do this by de" ning
policy-makers begin to define the agenda-setting alternatives, proposals and solutions to problems.
by prioritizing issues that can be divided into two
di! erent types of agenda: the public and formal. However, according to Kingdon (1995) the visible
According to Cobb et al (1976), the former is a list participants a! ect the agenda while the hidden
of issues which have achieved a high level of public ones affect the alternatives. Thus, the agenda is
interest and visibility, while the latter is a list of defined when alternatives for policy choices have
items formally chosen by policy-makers. Thus, in been narrowed down.
order to attain the formal agenda, four relevant
factors which play an important role are: Having the formal agenda at hand, the
problems, politics, and visible and hidden government can move this list of subjects into a
participants (Kingdom 1995). discussion within the Parliament where all debates
about the issues continue, and after scrutinizing
In the first stage (inputs) problems are identified them, it may perhaps be moved into a legislative
because they may increase the importance of a enactment or presidential choice (Kingdon 1995).
subject on the agenda (Kingdon 1995; Lindblom After this, the implementation phase begins.
and Woodhouse 1993).

Throughout the second stage (with inputs) politics

as well as the visible and hidden participants are

Fig: Public Policy Process

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 Fig: Policy Enacting Process

Policy Enacting Process in Bangladesh: Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of

Bangladesh's independence, the 2010-11 SOG
The policymaking process in Bangladesh is seen as Report explores an uncharted yet integral new
the outcome of incentives created by patronage dimension - the role of external influence in
politics as opposed to the compulsion for the shaping Bangladesh's policy-making process. In
government to play an effective developmental effect, the report examines how external
role. A number of factors strongly affect the public interventions in terms of aid conditional ties and
policy formulation and implementation process— policy prescriptions, among other's influence
factors such as the assistance and extent of the country's governance structure. Despite
pressure and persuasion from international Bangladesh's foreign aid dependency declining
development partners, and the capacity to drastically and the country making much
mobilize and manage resources. The political economic and social strides, as reflected by
commitment at the highest level is found to be the various economic and social indicators;2 external
most critical determinant element of policy stakeholder influence on the country's internal
formulation and implementation in Bangladesh. policymaking process is nevertheless significant.

Bureaucrat Politician Pressure Group

7%3%

90%

Fig: Stake in public policy formulation process in Bangladesh

In this figure, that describes the stakes in public The Institutional Framework for Policymaking in
policy formulation process in Bangladesh, through Bangladesh
which we can see that major or a mammoth
portion of stakes at around 90 percent belongs to The Sixth Five Year Plan (SFYP) provides the
bureaucrats, while it is only 3 and 7 percent for broader framework of public policy in Bangladesh.
pressure groups and politicians, respectively. This One of the major guiding principles of this plan is
diagram also tells that how a giant share of policy to achieve the goals set in Vision 2021 of the
making process dominated by the bureaucrats. Government of Bangladesh, which equally
emphasizes the provisions for instituting

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regulatory policies for safeguarding public policies, plans, and programs according to the
interests. This study delves into how external objectives and priorities set by the NEC.
stakeholders influence Bangladesh's policy making
1
processes and the consequences of such policy The Planning Commission is another central
transfer, whether coercive, voluntary or mixture. planning body of Bangladesh. It includes
This external influence generally originates from professionals and sector specialists engaged in
important stakeholders, including development formulating the government’s macro- and micro-
5
partners,
2
key economic plans and policies. The broad policy and
3
donor countries , non-profit organizations regulatory framework generally falls under one or
(popularly known as International and National another Act of Parliament. If no parliamentary act
Nongovernmental Organizations [INGOs/NGOs]), undergirds a particular policy to be initiated, then
multinational corporations, and supranational the policy must ultimately be ratified through
4
institutions . legislation. In such cases, it is usually the
government cabinet that makes the decision to
While previous SOG reports identified and formulate the new policy and entrusts the relevant
analysed the internal causes for poor governance, ministry with the task of drafting the policy
IGS recognised the need to critically inspect document. Sometimes a ministry has special
external stakeholders' role in governance, given agencies or institutions to which it delegates the
that ideas from abroad can, and in Bangladesh's task of policymmaking and coordination.
case, have shaped the country's policy-making Policymaking in Bangladesh, however, cannot be
dynamics. described as a linear process. Oftentimes policy is
“discovered to have been made after the decisions
The policy making process generally involves these have been taken or other options eliminated
sectors with four primary local actors (1) through political positioning of key players”.
Politicians (2) Bureaucrats (3) Businesses (private
sector), and (4) NGOs/ Civil society organizations/ The major stakeholders in Bangladesh’s policy
citizens groups, etc. The external influence formulation process would include the following:
generally enters into Bangladesh's policy making the cabinet, the ministries, parliament, political
process through these actors. The eventual impact parties, bureaucracy, non-governmental
on the quality of governance depends on the organizations and civil society organizations, the
strategic interplay among all actors, considering private sector, mass media and the international
the vested interests of each player and their donor community. The following paragraphs offer
respective strengths and weaknesses and the brief discussions of each of these stakeholders.
context under which external influence has
emerged. Since it is neither feasible nor possible Cabinet
to exhaustively study each and every policy that Like many other parliamentary forms of
Bangladesh has adopted owing to foreign government, the central cabinet is the highest
influence from its very inception, the report policymmaking body in Bangladesh. As stated in
focuses on some fundamental reforms and the Rules of Business 1996, section 4(ii), “No
associated policy transfers that have defined important policy decision shall be taken except
Bangladesh's governance discourse in post 1990 with the approval of the cabinet”. Thus the cabinet
period. is the ultimate authority for approving a policy,
National Economic Council (NEC) is the highest and all policy-related issues must be cleared by it.
authority to approve major economic policies and These include all cases related to legislation,
development strategies. Its task is to formulate the including the promulgation of ordinances; cases
national policy and objectives for long term plans. involving vital political, economic, and
The ministries are responsible for adopting the administrative policies; and proposals related to
changing any existing policy or cabinet decisions.

1
i.e., how policies are being transferred, who are the key local
actors by whom policies are transferred and more 5
The Planning Commission is composed of six divisions. These
importantly how the influences are filtered through and what the are the General Economics Division, the Programming,
consequences of policy transfer are.
2 Evaluation and Appraisal Division, the Socio-Economic
The WB, ADB, IMF, DFID (now known as UKAID), USAID,
JICA, IDB, among others, who provide external aid, technical Infrastructure Division, the Industries and Energy Division, the
assistances, soft loan. Physical Infrastructure Division, and the Agriculture, Water and
3
Such as United States, Japan, United Kingdom, India, China Rural Institutions Division.
and Saudi Arabia.
4
Primarily, European Union and the United Nations

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The cabinet has its own structure (committees) for the office of the prime minister or an influential
6
assessing and examining selected policies. cabinet member generally follow a fast-track
approach in the formulation and approval process.
Government Ministries
Parliament
Bangladesh’s government ministries are self-
contained administrative units responsible for Despite its constitutional position, Bangladesh’s
conducting government business in distinct, parliament has become merely the law approving
specified spheres. For each ministry, a minister is body. Most MPs, as it is observed, “are content to
responsible for the policy matters that concern his cede any policy role they may play to the central
or her ministry and for the implementation of leader in exchange for protection of their
those policies. One of the major responsibilities of commercial interests” (Lippert 2009:34). Evidence
a ministry, as per the Rules of Business Section further suggests that important policy issues are
4(ix) is “policy formulation, planning and rarely discussed in parliament and the committees
evaluation of execution of plan”. The ministries (Ahmed 2001, 2012). What is more, there is
have special agencies or institutions delegated inadequate debate on policy and legislation in
with the task of policymaking and coordination. parliament; many important matters including the
The relevant ministry generally forms a task force 5-year plans are not discussed there, and most
that is entrusted with formulating the policy policies that are formulated at the ministry level
outline. Such a task force is comprised of senior are not even announced in parliament
ministry staff (normally a joint secretary or (Transparency International Bangladesh [TIB]
equivalent) acting under the direction of the 2009a).
ministry secretary. The task force may include
members from other ministries as well, if there is Bangladesh’s parliament has gradually
overlap in objectives, or if outcomes can only be degenerated into a mere instrument of regime
achieved through inter-ministerial collaboration. maintenance that provides legitimacy to the ruling
The task force may, on occasion, engage domestic regime to govern. It is not an active body for policy
or international consultants to provide the debate, review, and analysis. The parliament has
background research for a document, as guided by unfortunately failed to deliver the key tasks of
the overall goals of the policy. representation, legislation, oversight of the
executive branch, and conflict resolution. It has
Once a draft policy document is prepared in therefore been insignificant for promoting good
accordance to the Rules of Business Section 14 (4), governance (Rahman 2008).
it is forwarded to relevant ministries for their
comments, observations, and clearance. This Political Parties
usually includes the Ministry of Law and the Bangladesh’s political parties suffer from an image
Ministry of Finance for comments and vetting on crisis, low credibility, and low public trust.
all legal and financial implications. Other ministries Nevertheless, image still matters in the country’s
may also be asked to comment on the policy draft, political processes and policy mobilization (IGS
if it is determined that the policy involves their 2009). In most cases, elected office holders at
scope of interest as well. The draft is then revised various levels do not necessarily win an election
accordingly. There may be several rounds of because they are credible candidates but because
comments and counter-comments before of the party symbol they represent. The political
consensus is reached. The revised document is parties are considered a safe abode for criminals,
then sent to the cabinet for review and approval. terrorists, and extortionists (TIB 2009b).
In some cases, the cabinet refers some critical and Furthermore, the political system has been ruined
important policies to cabinet sub-committees for by a new process of “criminalization and
further review and analysis. However, evidence commercialization” of politics (Aminuzzaman
suggests that some policy packages initiated by 2010a). Business elites are gradually taking control
of the political party and the parliament (Liton
6
The cabinet committees are as follows: Food planning and 2011).
monitoring committee, Senior appointment, Promotion and
service structure committee, National award committee, The ruling parties in Bangladesh have almost
Government purchase committee, Committee on pay fixation, always tried to establish hegemonic control over
Committee on foreign employment, Committee on urgent and the use of public resources to further their
national interest, Committee on finance and economic affairs, partisan interests. This they have done under the
Committee on foreign affairs, Committee on law and order
facade of public interest. Public policy-making is
thus characterized “as the outcome of incentives

5|Page
created by patronage politics as opposed to the largely filled the void left by the state’s inattention
compulsion for the government to play an to policy formulation and reform.
effective developmental role” (Mahmud et al. NGOs have played the role of catalysts in the
2008:v). formulation process of policies on the
environment, the right to information, and the
Bureaucracy rights of women and children (IGS 2012). In such
Because of its professional expertise and strategic processes, they have been heavily supported by
position, public bureaucracy plays a significant role donor funding, technical assistance, and consulting
in policymaking in Bangladesh. In fact, bureaucracy support. In many cases, the donors act as
stands at the centre of both policy formulation and mediators between the NGOs and the
implementation, and it tend to manage a strategic government. In some cases, the government also
balance between the political interest and rule- utilizes the NGOs in mobilizing public opinion in
oriented professional standard. Bureaucracy also favor of a policy. Some leading NGOs even provide
plays a critical and tactical role in addressing and research and consulting support to the
accommodating donor pressure, persuasion, and government in the policy formulation process
dominance in the policy formulation, and to (Islam 2012)
certain extent the implementation process
(Rahman 2011). That said, the public bureaucracy The Private Sector
is considered to be slow, risk aversive, and
resistant to change (Aminuzzaman 2010b; World Over the last two decades, the private sector has
Bank 1996). There are many instances where emerged as a strong stakeholder in policymaking
bureaucratic resistance has stalled good policies processes. In the present parliament, one-third of
and government programs (Hossain 2011). all MPs have direct commercial interests in the
garment industry, the nation’s largest exporter
NGO/CSO governance (Jahan and Amundsen 2012). Business leaders cum
MPs directly and indirectly play significant roles in
Civil society actors like NGOs have become formulating fiscal policy. This adds force to the
important partners in governance over the years. argument that over the years, strong ties have
With the shifting focus of development developed between MPs and the private sector.
cooperation from a 'Needs-Based Approach' to a Such ties have become strong and effective factors
'Rights-Based Approach', the NGO role graduated that characterize and affect the policymaking
from erstwhile social and economic development process in contemporary Bangladesh (Mahmud et
agency to the broader governance-driven al. 2008).
institution. This study identifies the extent to
which NGOs operate as policy advocacy actors, Pressure Groups
and the degree of 'policy ownership' they avail
while shaping the policy agenda in Bangladesh. A pressure group can be described as an organized
group that does not put up candidates for
In doing so, the study observes two policy fields- elections, but seeks to influence government
the Right to Information Act (RTI) and the National policies and legislations. They can also termed as
Human Rights Commission (NHRC), which have interest groups, lobby groups or protest groups.
experienced major policy shifts in recent years and
where NGOs have been engaged in policy They try to influence politics or the policies of
advocacy. Moreover, the analysis intends to government, decisions of the government
examine the extent of the civil society and NGO's  Mobilize public opinion on key issues
role in the introduction of RTI and the
establishment of the National Human Rights  Educate citizens in specific issues
Commission (NHRC) and to what extent their
ownership was secured in the process.  Enhance political participation

Although civil society actors, particularly NGOs,  Provide access point for those seeking
backed by donor support, were already involved in redress of grievances
policy advocacy, the PRSP process was unique in  Represent minorities who cannot
providing them direct and formal participation in represent themselves
policy making for the first time.
 Influence in formulating public policy
NGOs process
In terms of policy conceptualization, especially
social policy, the NGO community has

6|Page
There is also evidence that informal pressure  The government of Bangladesh has
groups have played important roles in made no serious effort to mobilize
pursuing various policies. Such informal political support for the conditional
networks with relatively few actors tend to reform package, neither in
maintain close working relations with the parliament nor popular support
highest political offices. They try to influence within civil society, or even amongst
policy outputs and institutional processes. beneficiaries. &
There are wide-spread media allegations  The policy reforms become a donor-
about the Hawa Bhaban—the private political driven process where the
office of the chairperson of the thenruling commitment and capacity of the
party Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)— government of Bangladesh remains
said to have eliminated “the distinction weak. Since the pace of reform and
between government and the party, for adjustments are too rapid, some
instituting a culture of impunity where party policies become politically infeasible
henchmen considered themselves above the and socially unacceptable.
law”. Furthermore, the informal powerhouse
was alleged to have played a strong “policy Problems of policy making in Bangladesh
influencing” role to extract “kickbacks” and 1. Bureaucrats are dominant actor in agenda
“political advantage” (Anam 2008). setting
Donor and Development Partners 2. They are sharing more than equal with
Since the early 1980s, the international donor politicians in policy making
community has played a significant role in 3. They are playing pivotal role in designing
setting and shaping the policy agenda for and implementing
Bangladesh. One of the country’s leading
development economists has noted that “the 4. Dominant partner in governing
psychology of dependence on donors has Bangladesh
become ingrained in the psyche of military,
political and bureaucratic decision-makers in 5. Politicians have little knowledge on policy
Bangladesh” (Sobhan 2007:54). This incapacity making and governing the country
to restore sovereignty to Bangladesh’s 6. Politicization of bureaucracy
policymaking process has aggravated and
eroded the state’s credibility and authority. 7. Imbalance relation between public
Though dependence on aid, in quantitative representatives and politicians
terms, has visibly declined in Bangladesh
during the 1990s and onwards, the 8. Conflicting history among the two groups
dependence on policy advice from donors still Conclusion:
remains strong. Paradoxically, while aid to
Bangladesh has been falling, the country is Political will is a significant factor that shapes and
increasingly witnessing a wider variety of influences the policy formulation and
conditions which restrict policy autonomy implementation process of public policies in
(Islam 2003; Aminuzzaman 2007). Donors play Bangladesh. Donor technical assistance is a critical
a significant and noticeably intervening role, determinant that strongly affects both formulation
through injecting policy ideas and making and implementation of public policy, while the
recommendations for policies. bureaucratic machinery also has a great stake in
enacting public policy formulation process in
 Some conditions of the donors were Bangladesh. Hence, we have seen that the
acceptable to the government but bureaucratic machinery has been playing a
not to the people and therefore dominating role in public policy in Bangladesh over
faced political resistance. One such the political will and the pressure group.
example is the strong resistance from
civil society, media, and political
parties to the withdrawal of
agricultural subsidies during mid- *This article is made for class assignment only and
1990s, due to a World Bank and IMF finally sharing with others. Need to be edited.
prescription about structural
adjustment.

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 Reference:

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Institutions.
 Kingdon, John W. 1995. Agendas, alternatives, and public policies. USA: Longman.
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Canada: Oxford University Press.
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