Voting in a Hybrid Regime: Explaining the 2018 Bangladeshi Election

Description

This Pivot explores the mechanism of election manipulation in ostensibly democratic but essentially authoritarian systems called the hybrid regime, using the 2018 parliamentary elections in Bangladesh as an example. The 2018 election has delivered an unprecedented victory to the incumbent Bangladesh Awami League. Elections pose serious dilemmas for the leaders of hybrid regimes. While contested elections bolster their claims of democracy and augment their legitimacy, they can also threaten the status quo. Faced with the challenge, the incumbents tend to hold stage-managed elections. This book offers incisive examination of Bangladesh’s political environment, rigorous scrutiny of the roles of state institutions including the law enforcing agencies, and meticulous analysis of election results. It also fills in a gap in the extant hybrid regime literature which seldom explores the strategies of engineered elections. Front Matter ....Pages i-xiii Introduction (Ali Riaz)....Pages 1-7 What Is a Hybrid Regime? (Ali Riaz)....Pages 9-19 Bangladesh: From an Electoral Democracy to a Hybrid Regime (1991–2018) (Ali Riaz)....Pages 21-31 Manufacturing a Climate of Fear (Ali Riaz)....Pages 33-42 Does Election Matter in a Hybrid Regime? (Ali Riaz)....Pages 43-56 The Mechanism of Manipulation (Ali Riaz)....Pages 57-67 The Election Day: Fear, Exclusion, and Persecution Come Together (Ali Riaz)....Pages 69-81 Election Results: A Victory Too Big to Believe? (Ali Riaz)....Pages 83-92 Mutation of Hybrid Regime and Quo Vadis Bangladesh (Ali Riaz)....Pages 93-98 Back Matter ....Pages 99-109