Term Paper

On
Comparative Study of Good Governance in
Bangladesh, India and Pakistan
Course name: Issues and Problems in Governance
Course code: PA-2311

Submitted To
Mohammad Nur Ullah
Lecturer
Department of Public Administration
Submitted By
Md Sakif Al Wasee
Roll: 2016941033
Department of Public Administration

Date of Submission: 05.05.2021

Introduction:
Bangladesh is a developing country. They got their independence in 1971. From then to now
they are trying to develop their administrative system and other things. South Asian countries are
a bit late in development. We can’t consider any South Asian country as a full developed
country. Most of the South Asian countries belong from the same civilization. They have
similarity in culture, religion, food, language, outfit etc. Most importantly, people from these
countries holds the same kind of mentality. That’s why we can also notice a lot of similarity in
different sectors among them. India and Pakistan both are neighbor of Bangladesh. As I said,
people from this region holds the same kind of mentality so we can predict that the
administrators and the governing body of these countries also holds the same mentality in their
respective sectors. Mostly they use same techniques and methods to run their governing system.
This paper aims to compare the state of good governance in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. So
basically, governance is the process of maintaining life. It’s a broader term. It covers everything
related to a state. Governance covers everything then organize the branches. It not only related
with the public institutions but also related with the private institutions, organizations, NGO’s
etc. On the other hand, we can say that Governance is the exercise of power by the government
or political leaders for the well-being of a country’s citizens. Without governance a country can’t
run its system. There are a lot of things which are connected with governance. Apart from
everything good governance is the most important thing for a country for its development. Good
governance is a process which ensures the welfare of the citizens of a country. In this case, the
governing system of a country doesn’t matter. If it has the ability to ensure its citizens welfare
then it is good governance. Or we can say that “Good governance is associated with efficient and
effective administration in a democratic framework. It is equivalent to purposive and
development-oriented administration which is committed to improvement in quality of life of the
people” (Srivastava, 2009, p.02). There are a lot of things which defines a good governance.
Good governance depends on various constants. This constants or elements helps us to
understand the situation of a country’s governance. I will try to analyze and compare the good
governance between Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. I will try to define the good governance of
Bangladesh, India and Pakistan by using the World Bank and UNDP index of good governance.
World Bank has set six indicators to consider a country’s governance. “The six indicators are: 1.
Voice and Accountability, 2. Political Stability and Absence of Violence, 3. Government
Effectiveness, 4. Regulatory Quality, 5. Rule of Law, 6. Control of Corruption” (Kaufmann &
Kraay, 2019). UNDP has also set eight indicators to consider a country’s good governance. They
are: 1. Transparency 2. Participation 3. Responsiveness 4. Fairness 5. Strategic Vision 6. Equity
7. Effectiveness 8. Accountability. There are also a lot of elements which help us to identify the
state of good governance in a country. The main function of good governance is exercise of the
power for development. The existence of governance is in everywhere. It ensures that corruption
is limited, the perspectives on minorities are considered and that the voices of the most
vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making.

Analysis:

Bangladesh: Bangladesh is facing a lot of problems nowadays to operate a good governance.

There are many reasons behind it. If we compare and analyze the indicators of WGI and UNDP
then we can find the flaws and loopholes of governing system of Bangladesh. First of all, I’m
going to evaluate the state of good governance in Bangladesh. If we talk about transparency then
we can say that the administrative system of Bangladesh holds a vague image. There are many
problems in every system of Bangladesh. For example, we can say that the recruitment process
of civil service or the recruitment process of teachers in public universities is totally full of
corruption. Practically we see nepotism and political identity in these cases. So, we can’t say that
Bangladesh holds transparency in their governing system. The next thing we can say that,
fairness in election. There is lack of fairness in election commission and election system of
Bangladesh. A lot of questions raised after the 11th National Parliament Election of Bangladesh.
If we talk about participation then we can say that the main of opposition of the current ruling
party didn’t even participate in the 10th National Parliament Election of Bangladesh. So, it’s
very clear that Bangladesh has a lot of problems in both fairness and participation.
Accountability is one of the important facts to determine good governance in a country.
Bangladesh is far behind in the sector of accountability. Accountability of the parliament to the
people and that of the executive to the parliament could not yet be institutionalized. Evident lack
of institutional capacity and other maladies continue to impede social and economic
development, and peaceful democratic process. The political leaders, members of parliament and
the organizational heads are not that much responsible as they meant to be. So, we can also say
that governing body of Bangladesh is also far behind in accountability. The next important thing
for good governance is effectiveness in administration. In the context of Bangladesh, we can say
that Bangladesh holds a politicized bureaucracy. The bureaucrats of Bangladesh can’t exercise
the proper power they hold. Sometimes they are forced to do some inappropriate works for the
external political pressure. In fact, sometimes favoritism works in the recruitment process of
bureaucrats. Rule of Law is one of the most important factors for considering good governance.
Right implementation of law can help a country to operate a country in a right way. Bangladesh
has also some inefficient policy makers who don’t know how to implement the right rule of law.
If we look at the governance score of Bangladesh in rule of law, then we can see that Bangladesh
has -0.77 score in rule of law which is poor. So, we can say that Bangladesh must have to fix a
lot of things. There are a lot of things on which Bangladesh needs to work on. If we analyze
closely then we can say that Bangladesh has a very poor governance score in regulatory quality,
political stability and control of corruption among 213 countries. “In 2010 the governance score
of Bangladesh in regulatory quality was -0.86, political stability was -1.42 and control of
corruption was -0.99” (Miazi & Islam, 2012, p.78).

India: India is the biggest democratic country in the world. They have a huge population.
Almost 120 Cr people lives in India. They have 29 states in their country. Every state has
different languages, cultures, food habits, outfits etc. So, it’s very hard to maintain good
governance in a country like this. India has a three-tier administrative management. Now if we
talk about transparency, weak accountability in a system discourages transparency in their
dealings with their citizens. In South Asia parliament was the ultimate pressure point on the
government to remain transparent in their dealings with their citizens. However, India has a
functioning parliament, served as an effective vehicle for bringing light the failures of
governance in their country. India broadcasts various talk shows like ‘AP KI ADALAT’ to
promote transparency in their country. As I mentioned, the South Asian people holds the same
mentality. So, it’s difficult to say that India has proper transparency in their administration but
it’s clear that they have better transparency than others. Traditionally South Asia’s lines of
accountability from executive to the legislative and beyond to their citizens, has remained weak.
In India, chief executives have been rather more accountable to their parliaments. India has a 0.5
score on voice and accountability in 2011 on governance index which is increasing day by day.
Accountability of the governing body is one of the most positive sides for India. Proper
implementation of rule of law always has been an important factor for good governance.” The
concept of good governance is undoubtedly linked with the citizens’ right of life, liberty and
pursuit of happiness. This could be secured in a democracy only through the rule of law.” (Singh,
2014, p.07). According to Indian constitution, each individual is entitled to equality before law
and equivalent insurance under the law. No individual can be denied of his life or individual
freedom except according to the procedure established by law. India has a score of 0.5 in rule of
law at world governance indicator 2011 which was the highest among the South Asian countries.
If we talk about effective administration or effective government then we must say, India has a
politicized bureaucracy. They have political influence at their administration. If we analyze
closely, India is still facing problems in their administration where nepotism and favoritism
works. But India is trying to eliminate the problems and overcome the situations. And they also
got success. Corruption has always been a big problem for India. It’s very hard to control
corruption on a huge country like this. In India, there are different states and different governing
body in every state. So, every state applies their own techniques or methods on their own way to
reduce corruption. India is still far away to be considered as developed country because of the
corruption rate of their country. Corruption is one of the biggest hindrances on their way to
development. India needs to work on a lot of things. They have to fix many problems. And also,
they got a score of -0.66 in control of corruption at world governance indicator 2011. But still
they managed to get a good score comparing to others. So, we can say that India has a moderate
governance which is still not sufficient enough to be good governance. And India has also a
poor governance score in regulatory quality and political stability among 213 countries. “In 2011
the governance score of India in regulatory quality was -0.35, political stability was -1.13.”
(WGI, 2011, p.03).

Pakistan: Pakistan is the 33rd largest country by area. They have a population of 212.2 million
which is huge by numbers. Pollution, congestion, lack of basic infrastructure, pathological
growth of slums, unemployment and high rate of crime made the life of the people miserable.
People used to enjoy their life 25-30 years ago. Today, they are heaps of debris, almost a garbage
dump where even the rudimentary urban facilities are not available. Good governance is far
away from Pakistan. People hardly maintain their lifestyle in Pakistan. Transparency is
considered as one of the key components of good governance. It is connected with a lot of
factors. But Pakistan failed here.

“Pakistan is far behind the required standards in respect of culture of openness, willingness of
Government and public officials to share information with citizens. Pakistan ranks 117 out of
180 countries with very low score of 33/10028 in respect of transparency and corruption” (Khan
& Alam, 2020, p. 324). But the positive side is Pakistan is adopting some new acts to bring
more transparency in their system. The next thing is accountability. Decision-makers in
government, the private sector and civil society organizations are accountable to the public, as
well as to institutional stakeholders. This accountability differs depending on the organization
and whether the decision is internal or external to an organization. Pakistan has a -0.93 score on
voice and accountability in 2011 on governance index. But all the recent stats say that they are
trying to be more accountable day by day. Concerning the rule of law, good governance
decisions require reformatory frameworks, courts and parliaments for effective implementation
of legislation. Legal frameworks should be fair and enforced impartially, particularly the laws on
human rights. Pakistan failed to ensure fundamental human rights. Pakistan always face multiple
problems to establish rule of law in their country. They had security threats and various crimes
around them. That’s why they have a score of -0.97 on rule of law in 2011 governance index.
Effective Administration never existed in Pakistan. They always had corrupted and politicized
administration. They were failed to govern their country smoothly for last 25-30 years. The rise
of nepotism and favoritism literally destroyed the administrative system of Pakistan. “Nepotism,
a rigid mindset and delays in processing constitute inadequate or bad governance and leads to
corruption which is prevalent in every sector in Pakistan including executive government, the
judiciary and legislature.” (Imran & Nordin, 2018, p.07). In effective administration Pakistan has
a score of -0.86 in 2011 governance index. And it’s gradually falling down day by day. All the
facts we have and after analyzing different factors we can say that Pakistan has a long way to go
to gain good governance. It’s very hard to gain good governance on a fragile governing body like
them. They need to work on a lot of things. If we talk about corruption in Pakistan, then we can
easily say that Pakistan is in a critical condition in corruption. About 50% Pakistan population
live in one room tenements where congestion can be as high as 8-12%. 50% people have no
access to piped water and 70% lack sanitation. They are also struggling with high unemployment
rate which is high as 20%. They have a score of -1.25 on control of corruption. They are also
failed to form an effective regulatory quality. Regulatory Quality is also a key element of good
governance. But they only have -0.78 on regulatory quality in governance index 2011. And
Pakistan has a disastrous score on Political Stability which is -2.5. If a country is not politically
strong enough so it’s very hard for them to form a good government. Because the political
parties participate in an election and forms a government after winning the election. So, every
element of good governance needs to be improved in Pakistan.

Findings:

Bangladesh, India and Pakistan all the three countries are trying to develop their governing
system. But still if we compare between them the we can find some differences as well. As I
mentioned most of the South Asian countries belong from the same cultures that’s why we may
find some similarities between them. Now if we talk about transparency at first then we can say
that India is ahead in this sector than Bangladesh and Pakistan. India is working on it for years
and they are finally getting some good results. Bangladesh holds the second position and
Pakistan is the last among all three countries. The next important factor is voice and
accountability. The government needs to accountable to its people. And if we look at the stats
above then it’s clearly shown that India is still achieved the 1 st position among these three
countries. Eventually Bangladesh holds the second position and Pakistan is the last one. Rule of
Law is also one of most important factors for good governance beside the other factors. Proper
implantation of rule of law can bring justice in a country. Human rights consider as one of the
most important things on freedom. India has the best score on rule of law also. In this case
Bangladesh and Pakistan has almost the same score. Bangladesh is just ahead by some little
points. India is far ahead of them in this sector. An effective government shows us the entire
scenario of a country. Every country needs an effective administration to govern itself. But
unfortunately, none of these three countries have effective administration. But we have to
compare. So, India holds the 1st position as always and Bangladesh and Pakistan are in 2nd and 3rd
position accordingly. And all the other factors like regulatory quality, control of corruption,
political stability etc. India holds the 1st position in all these sectors. Bangladesh is in 2nd Position
and Pakistan is in 3rd position among all three countries. So, if we gather all the facts and
information then we can say that India has comparably the best good governance among the
three countries. Bangladesh has better good governance than Pakistan. And Pakistan has
comparably the worst governance than the other two. But we all know it’s hard to maintain a
good governance in South Asia.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, I can say that all the countries are trying to gain good governance. But they still
have a long way to go. India has definitely good governance than Bangladesh and Pakistan. But
it’s really poor comparing to the western countries or East Asian countries. And the most
important thing is all these countries are developing countries. And it’s quite impossible for a
developing country to work on all the issues together. That’s why they are working on these
issues in a priority basis. They are giving priority to the important indicators at first. This process
is called good enough governance. Most of the developing country follows the good enough
governance. So, we can conclude that these countries have a lot of work to do to gain good
governance. And they are working on a priority basis so that slowly they get development and
gain good governance.

Reference:

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CHALLENGES AND RECOMMENDATIONS, p.07, available at:
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