000			01642nam a2200169 4500
999			_c510174 _d510174
008			190802b ||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
100			_aRahman, Tahmina _97655
245			_aParty system institutionalization and pernicious polarization in Bangladesh
260			_c2019
300			_ap.173-192.
520			_aThis article traces the development of political polarization in Bangladesh since its 1971 war of independence. I show how polarization is elite-driven, hinging mostly on competing views of the foundation myth of the nation. One major political bloc has emerged that ties national identity tightly to religion (Islam), where the other bloc prefers a national identity tied to ethnicity and use of the Bengali language. I show how an underdeveloped party system has contributed to the resulting political and societal polarization that stems from this ideological divide, which was created by elites as they attempted to consolidate party power. Further, I make a case that the activities of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)—established in 2010 to prosecute those who aided the Pakistani army in committing war crimes during the 1971 war—actually increased polarization and made it pernicious. Instead of healing the nation, the ICT exacerbated old political cleavages and instigated violence and social tension, making Bangladesh’s young democracy more unstable and careening. - Reproduced.
650			_aPolarisation _97656
650			_aDemocracy - Bangladesh _97657
773			_aThe Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
906			_aPolitical parties - Bangladesh
942			_2ddc _cAR