A WISEMAN once was asked if he would trust the judgement of the people. He quipped, 'I would, only if their judgement is based on full information.'
No doubt, information is power. More information is always better in the decision-making process, both of individuals and government. In any democratic society non-political special interest groups, namely business associations, non-governmental organisations, civil society groups, professional groups, the military establishment play a significant role in generating and disseminating information. Through competition, interaction and lobbying, the actions of these groups tend to maximise not only their gains but also the benefit of the general public. Competition among special interest groups and effectiveness in lobbying for public and private interests are all signs of a nascent democratic society.
Organised special interest groups have always dominated and will continue to influence the political decision-making process in the near future. The existence of special interest groups per se poses no threat to competition in the political process.
What is of serious concern is when special interest groups form syndicates with efforts to dominate the political process or stifle competition in the political process. The way political syndicates of special interest restricts competition in the political process is like the way business syndicate restricts competition in the market.
The rise of syndicates of special interest groups in Bangladesh is fairly a recent phenomenon. During 1975-1990, the political process was mostly dominated by the military-bureaucratic oligarchy with a rising clout of religious establishment. The participation of business associations, NGOs, civil society groups, media and political parties in the political process and policymaking was virtually non-existent. This is preciously why the nation experienced frequent street protests against tyrannical behaviour of the authoritarian regime during 1983-1990. However, the ouster of the military regime in 1990 and induction of electoral democracy in 1991 provided these groups with the opportunities to influence political decision making in various ways. Indeed, with public having their rights to vote and NGOs, civil society groups and the media having their abilities to shape public opinion since 1971, for the first time since 1971 advocacy groups started to indirectly influence political decision making by shaping public opinion. The benefits of such a political transformation are now widely evident from the influence of the media, civil society groups and NGOs in shaping public opinion and influencing political decision making.
The problem began in the early mid-nineties when elected governments started to act like tyrants and monopolise the political process. This resulted in conflict of interests between political and non-political entities. Attempting to preserve their status quo, many special interest groups started to organise in various
syndicates.
In this process, some continued their advocacy roles by actively participating or/and supporting combined opposition protests against tyranny of elected governments. Some engaged in various lobbying for multinationals and donor agencies disregarding the interest of the people. And, some, who now are clamouring for reform in the political process and
parties, catered to the needs of political establishments.
Such reversal of roles of special interest groups further alienated the non-members of the syndicates including peasants, rural households, religious and political minorities from the political process.
In Bangladesh, currently people with economic, social, familial, marital, political and professional connections dominate the electoral nomination process and, in most cases manage to get nominated. The general public, although to some extent has the rights to vote, is largely shut out of the nomination process. In short, who they vote for is
predetermined and controlled by the urban-based elite syndicates.
One must understand that the current political crisis is not only the result of polarisation in national politics, but also the outcome of conflict of interests between political parties and other interest groups in society. The struggle is to preserve the status quo of the syndicates of both political and non-political groups.
However, in the current state of power struggle, while the political syndicate is getting caught up in the crossfire of selective reform process, many other syndicates, also accomplices of political misdeeds, seem to be safely escaping the heat of the political firestorm. Apparently, a new syndicate of military, business associations, media conglomerate, social elites, NGOs, and some civil society groups has been slowly emerging out of the shadow of the reform process. The same group of people with familial, social, business, professional and political ties appear to continue to dominate the political process, but with different attire.
It seems people are now entering into a new era of 'tyranny of status quo' of non-political groups. Tyranny of status quo is referred to in political science literature as the perpetual grip of the special interest groups in the country's social, economic and political power. Michael S Rozeff defines 'tyranny of the Status Quo' as the tendency for certain situations to stay the same, as they are'.
During 1990s, the target of the political opposition was the military-bureaucratic oligarchy. Now the target of the reform process seems to be the political establishment and institution. Exploiting the failures of political leadership and current vacuum in the political process, non-political syndicates including certain NGOs, civil society groups, media and military hierarchy have been promoting their agenda through multifaceted strategies.
For example, some civil society groups, NGOs, and media conglomerate are demanding transparency in the finances and internal democracies of the political parties. While their demand appears to be innocuous and reasonable, underlying motives are questionable at least for three reasons.
First, they seem to be completely oblivious of the lack of transparency in the sources of their finances, the method of their spending and structure of salary and compensation of the executives vis-à-vis general staffs in their organisations.
Second, their penchant for selective rather than comprehensive reform also questions the integrity of their demand.
Third, their nonchalant attitudes in bringing up the issues of the way priorities are made in the national budget and the way certain sectors such as defence manage to get disproportionate allocation clearly indicate a quid pro quo arrangement to maintain status quo of non-political establishments.
One of the ironies is that the urban-based syndicates create 'law for their own benefits and discard it when it fails to serve their interests'. Unless the system that preserves such arrangement is also reformed, the fast-track selective reform of the caretaker government will not only fail but also create irreparable damage to the nascent political institution.
ABM Nasir teaches economics at North Carolina Central University, Durham, North Carolina, USA and can be reached at nasnc@yahoo.com
Associate Professor of Economics
School of Business
North Carolina Central Univeristy
Durham, NC 27707.
Phone: (919) 530-7372
Fax: (919) 530-6163
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