Parliaments in South Asia
Parliaments in South Asia

Author: Nizam Ahmed

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-02-05

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 0429878559

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This book explores the development, decline and resurgence of parliaments in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Although the three parliaments formally have a common origin and follow almost similar rules and procedures, substantial variations can be observed in their behavior. By analyzing the nature of memberships, processes of legislation and oversight of the executive, the book assesses the impact of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi parliaments. In addition to identifying the ways in which different institutional actors, particularly the parliament and the judiciary, define their roles and relationships, the book investigates the role of committees and the significance and effect of female legislators. While showing that the parliament in India has had a steady growth since its inception, notwithstanding the allegation that it has declined in recent years, the author also demonstrates the differential performance of the parliaments in Bangladesh and Pakistan. In particular, the parliament in Pakistan is shown to likely be able to upgrade its status from a ‘minimal’ to at least a ‘marginal’ legislature, while the Bangladesh parliament risks becoming a ‘minimal’ legislature. A valuable resource to use when comparing strategies and outcomes of postcolonial developments in the operation of parliaments, this book will be of interest to academics in the field of political and economic development, governance and South Asian Studies.

Parliaments in Asia
Parliaments in Asia

Author: Zheng Yongnian

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-10-23

Total Pages: 318

ISBN-13: 1134469659

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Much writing on politics in Asia revolves around the themes of democracy and democratisation with a particular focus on political systems and political parties. This book, on the other hand, examines the role that parliaments – a key institution of democracy – play in East, Southeast and South Asia including Taiwan and Hong Kong. Parliaments in these locations function in a variety of historical, political and socio-economic circumstances with different implications for institution building and political development. This book examines questions like how accessible, representative, transparent, accountable and effective are parliaments? To what extent are parliaments able to hold other political actors to account or how far are they constrained by the political environment in which they operate? Going further, this book considers how new media such as the Internet and other social platforms, through providing avenues for individuals to articulate their views separate from official channels, are influencing the ways parliaments work. To stay relevant, parliamentarians need to reach out and engage these individuals in formulating, deciding and fine-tuning policies. In the information age, being a parliamentarian has become more challenging and how a parliamentarian copes with this change will shape the nature and pace of political development.

Parliaments in South Asia
Parliaments in South Asia

Author: Nizam Ahmed

Publisher:

Published: 2022

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781032400662

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This book explores the development, decline and resurgence of parliaments in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Although the three parliaments formally have a common origin and follow almost similar rules and procedures, substantial variations can be observed in their behavior. By analyzing the nature of memberships, processes of legislation and oversight of the executive, the book assesses the impact of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi parliaments. In addition to identifying the ways in which different institutional actors, particularly the parliament and the judiciary, define their roles and relationships, the book investigates the role of committees and the significance and effect of female legislators. While showing that the parliament in India has had a steady growth since its inception, notwithstanding the allegation that it has declined in recent years, the author also demonstrates the differential performance of the parliaments in Bangladesh and Pakistan. In particular, the parliament in Pakistan is shown to likely be able to upgrade its status from a 'minimal' to at least a 'marginal' legislature, while the Bangladesh parliament risks becoming a 'minimal' legislature. A valuable resource to use when comparing strategies and outcomes of postcolonial developments in the operation of parliaments, this book will be of interest to academics in the field of political and economic development, governance and South Asian Studies.

Parliamentary Control and Government Accountability in South Asia
Parliamentary Control and Government Accountability in South Asia

Author: Taiabur Rahman

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2007-09-12

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 1134136471

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This book presents a comparative analysis of the role of parliamentary committees in securing government accountability in the three largest and most important functioning democracies in South Asia: Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.

Women in Governing Institutions in South Asia
Women in Governing Institutions in South Asia

Author: Nizam Ahmed

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-08-24

Total Pages: 364

ISBN-13: 3319574752

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This edited volume examines policies aimed at increasing the representation of women in governing institutions in six South Asian countries. Divided into three parts, it addresses the implications of uniformity and diversity for the substantive representation of women in parliament, civil service and local government. The contributing authors explore the scope and limits of ‘positive discriminatory policies’ within distinct country contexts, and the implications of the lack of such policies in other countries. Their findings shed new light on the extent to which the higher presence of women in different governing institutions matters, particularly in respect of promoting women’s issues; and also on the way men and women in different governing institutions look upon each other’s roles and adopt strategies for mutual adjustment. This innovative collection will appeal to students and scholars of gender studies, public policy and administration, international relations, law and political science.

Inclusive Governance in South Asia
Inclusive Governance in South Asia

Author: Nizam Ahmed

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-10-04

Total Pages: 298

ISBN-13: 3319609041

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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.

Women in Parliament
Women in Parliament

Author: Julie Ballington

Publisher:

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13:

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This updated edition of Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers Handbook covers the ground of women's access to the legislature in three steps: It looks into the obstacles women confront when entering Parliament be they political, socio-economic or ideological and psychological. It presents solutions to overcome these obstacles, such as changing electoral systems and introducing quotas, and it details strategies for women to influence politics once they are elected to parliament, an institution which is traditionally male dominated. The first Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers handbook was produced as part of IDEA's work on women and political participation in 1998. Since its release in English in 1998, there has been an ongoing interest and demand for the handbook, and responding to the request for the translation of the handbook, IDEA has produced Spanish, French and Indonesian language versions and a Russian overview of the handbook during 2002-2003. Since the first handbook was published, the picture regarding women's political participation has slowly changed. Overall the past decade has seen gradual progress with regard to women's presence in national parliaments. This second edition incorporates relevant global changes in the past years presenting new and updated case studies.--

Political Parties in South Asia
Political Parties in South Asia

Author: K. C. Suri

Publisher:

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 148

ISBN-13:

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With one-fifth of the global population, South Asia is the largest democratic region in the world today even though military rule and monarchy still exist in certain countries. Political parties have played an active role in decolonization, freedom struggles and social change in the region and have been responsible for marrying democracy with development and social justice. Yet research shows that 40 per cent of the population in South Asia do not trust political parties, while only 11 per cent of those surveyed express great trust. Political Parties in South Asia: The Challenge of Change provides a comparative view of the conditions, roles and functioning of political parties in five countries of the South Asian region ¡ Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The publication builds on empirical information collected from 49 parties and addresses the challenges of politics as experienced by the key political actors themselves: the political parties. In addition, it includes practical recommendations for reforms in the party domain. By providing comparative information, this International IDEA publication aims to stimulate debate on the challenges faced by political parties in South Asia. It is especially aimed at political parties, scholars, policy makers and democracy assistance organizations working for political reform in South Asia.

Ceremony and Ritual in Parliament
Ceremony and Ritual in Parliament

Author: Shirin M. Rai

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-10-18

Total Pages: 140

ISBN-13: 1317966589

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Ceremony and Ritual in Parliament breaks new ground in the study of legislatures. It combines mainstream historical and social science approaches with cultural theory to consider how parliamentary ritual is constructed through ceremony, space and socialisation. The focus is on the marginalised groups especially women and members of ethnic minorities who seek inclusion as representatives in democratic legislatures. This book assesses aspects of the role that ceremony and ritual in legislatures play, especially but not exclusively, in their gendered and racialised dimensions. Within this broad frame, it considers the impact of space, identity, ritual and/or ceremony on the institutional form of parliament, how power is shaped within it, how the behaviour of members is facilitated, constrained and shaped, how power and rituals interact to and how they impinge upon the relationships between representative institutions and citizens. Contributions are theoretical and empirical, comparative or single-country studies of national or sub-national legislatures. They have interdisciplinary, historical, or postcolonial perspectives that contribute to this emerging field in the study of parliaments. This book was previously published as a special issue of the Journal of Legislative Studies.

The Anthropology of Parliaments
The Anthropology of Parliaments

Author: Emma Crewe

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-05-13

Total Pages: 187

ISBN-13: 1000182312

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The Anthropology of Parliaments offers a fresh, comparative approach to analysing parliaments and democratic politics, drawing together rare ethnographic work by anthropologists and politics scholars from around the world. Crewe’s insights deepen our understanding of the complexity of political institutions. She reveals how elected politicians navigate relationships by forging alliances and thwarting opponents; how parliamentary buildings are constructed as sites of work, debate and the nation in miniature; and how politicians and officials engage with hierarchies, continuity and change. This book also proposes how to study parliaments through an anthropological lens while in conversation with other disciplines. The dive into ethnographies from across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific Region demolishes hackneyed geo-political categories and culminates in a new comparative theory about the contradictions in everyday political work. This important book will be of interest to anyone studying parliaments but especially those in the disciplines of anthropology and sociology; politics, legal and development studies; and international relations.