ABSTRACT
The October Working Paper had reaffirmed the regime's commitment to achieving a democratic polity along the lines laid down in the Constitution, the President's speech in September 1971, as well as the March 30 Program. In fact, the basic conception of a semi-liberal polity had been made clear as far back as the ‘Open Society Debates’ of mid-1967. That conception, symbolized in the expression ‘a nation of institutions’ was a fairly straightforward liberal approach to political activity. Above all else, the expression referred to an end to the capriciousness in the use of power. The holders of power were to be bound by rules and procedures in the exercise of power. There were to be clearly designated spheres of competence and clearly designated mechanisms for making decisions within those spheres. Citizens were to have a stable set of expectations concerning how power was to be used. There were to be prescribed sets of procedures for citizens to defend themselves and call power holders to account. The ultimate accountability of power holders to the citizenry was to be the basis of the ‘state of institutions’. That accountability was to be ensured by free and open political discussion, debate and election.
