Globalisation, State and Politics in Bangladesh: Implications for Democratic Governance

After World War II, the world began to experience a rapid transformation in the political, economic and social inter-relationships between nations and continents. This phenomenon labelled ‘globalisation’, which gained momentum in the 1980s, has intensified worldwide interconnectedness in almost every sphere of human activity and has virtually smudged the division between domestic and global concerns, as goods and capital freely move from one region or country to another, and as ideas and information abundantly flow across continents via a rapidly-expanding international media. Trade, communication, investment and monetarybarriers (to name a few) are now surmounted with ease as national governments develop synergies with one another to attain common goals in development. On the political front, the direct impact of globalisation has been less conspicuous, but ‘the infusion of democratic norms, and the principles of human rights that support them’ are no less evident. The maxims of ‘good governance’ packaged in the West are diffused in the developing world as the basis on which to efficiently and effectively manage state affairs.