Political communication and the emergence of democracy in Bangladesh: A case study of press regulations, 1972--2003

The focus of this dissertation is on the nature and operation of laws and regulations in Bangladesh that have been used to limit press freedom from 1972 through 2003. Through a legal and political analysis of the evolution and use of these laws and regulations by successive governments in Bangladesh, the study provides an important perspective on the struggle for democracy in that country. This examination includes, in particular, an analysis of the reasons for the failure of successive governments to fulfill political pledges to reform, repeal, or amend laws and regulations that constrain freedom of the press. The study examines not only laws and regulations that limit press freedom directly, but also those that curtail access by journalist to government information that, in a liberal democratic regime, would normally be public information. The dissertation reviews the origins of various laws and regulations in the colonial period and reasons for their persistence.;The material in this dissertation was gathered during a field research trip of three months to Bangladesh in 2004. Qualitative interviews were conducted with elite individuals representing different elements in the press-government relationship to gain expert insight into the phenomenon of press freedom, regulation and policy. This study is also based on document analysis in broader perspective. The technique involves hermeneutical interpretation of legal documents to obtain a common understanding of the meaning of the text. The method is used in determining what the regulations or texts say with regard to press control, interpreted in their cultural and political context.;The study comes to the not surprising conclusion that successive governments retained the restrictive laws and regulations because they proved useful for the incumbent party in consolidating its power and in promoting its policies. It is also evident from the findings that political institutions in Bangladesh are fragile in absence of a democratic political culture. The lack of any consensual model of democracy and the high level of political intolerance reinforce this fragility. Freedom of the press is difficult to achieve, as much because of the hostile nature of politics, as because of inherited press regulations and laws. As partisan conflict is intense, so it is difficult to create an effective public sphere through the operation of a partisan press.;The research reveals that the government is aware of the shortcomings in the regulations and laws relating to the press, but is not willing to offer genuine and comprehensive reforms. However, reform would require a consensus among political parties and other key political actors around democratic values and rules of the political game to make progress towards a well-institutionalized liberal democracy.;The political analysis includes some attention to the development of a democratic public sphere/civil society in Bangladesh and the impediments to that development. In this context, the dissertation examines the political culture, which can be characterized as intolerant of dissent, and the highly partisan nature of the press, both of which help to explain the press-government relationship in Bangladesh. The study also considers the failure of political actors to follow through on promises of reform. Since one of the goals of the dissertation has been to develop reform proposals that have the possibility of implementation, it accepts (provisionally) the parameters of representative or liberal democracy. The argument is that the liberal model of press freedom, as a response to authoritarian press regimes, is the most applicable to the study of colonial and post-colonial press regulations. Freedom from government control is the first step towards a democratic and free press.;As noted, colonial and press laws and regulations have shown extraordinary persistence, largely because, having being crafted by colonial governments seeking to control dissent, they have proven useful to subsequent governments seeking to consolidate their power. Change will come, it is argued here, only through pressure from civil society groups committed to democratization and press freedom, with support from international press organizations and Western governments. It is also argued that the existence of strong civil society could lead to the effective growth of the public sphere. It is likely that a more democratic political culture and greater press freedom will develop together. There is some evidence of movement in this direction, a subject for future research.