ABSTRACT
The Government of Bangladesh has also formulated a perspective policy document entitled “Steps towards Change: National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction”. A former planner rightly observed that the real problem lies with the lack of political support for the plans and policies as well as limited understanding of the policy planners on ideological premise of the policy and its implications. Most Bangladeshis therefore view policy announcements with considerable skepticism—viewing them more as a token response to donor demands rather than as genuine commitment to change, and some policies are often considered as populist stunts only. Policy making in Bangladesh cannot be described as a linear process. Many times, policy is discovered to have been made after the decisions have been taken or other options eliminated through political positioning of key players. The policy-making process is thus labeled as the outcome of incentives created by patronage politics as opposed to the compulsion of the government to play an effective developmental role.
