This book is a study of the roles and relations of politicians and bureaucrats in the policy process of the upazila parishad (UZP) in Bangladesh in its formative phase. The analysis is directed at examining the ways the two perceived each others roles and defined inter-role relationships in the policy process. The study reveals that the political and bureaucratic roles in the UZP did not remain mutually exclusive; rather one reinforced the other in a number of ways. Such reinforcement was governed more by mutuality of interests of the two sets of actors than by psychological affinities or...

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...