ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the linkages and hierarchy of Bangladesh's local governments. It focuses on the structure as of the mid-1980s, and considers how the organization of local governments was changed in order to achieve greater decentralization. The chapter reviews the structure of the administrative system and then the structure of local governments. The structure of local government in Bangladesh is complex, largely because of the shared responsibility between central and local governments for administering and financing different public sector functions. Bangladesh's local government hierarchy is at least as complex as its administrative structure. Local government has a long history on the South Asian subcontinent. Local governments in urban areas function in a manner similar to the union parishads in rural areas. Each paurashava is divided into wards for the election of commissioners and there are a set number of commissioners prescribed in the Ordinance.
