ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author investigates the nature of the Bangladesh state and highlights the neo-patrimonial character of the relationships underpinning it. He examines the empirical evidence on the personalization of power and the development of clientelism and shows why the concept of neopatrimonialism is helpful in explaining politics in Bangladesh. The author examines how successive governments and political leaders have always attempted to monopolize state power in various ways since Independence. He posits that the patron-client society of Bangladesh indeed helps political leaders to personalize the state power they possess. To personalize power in the centralized state of Bangladesh, regimes effectively formed patron-client relationships with various groups and associations such as student branches of political parties, labour unions, professional groups and even the civil bureaucracy of the nation. Over the years, the Bangladesh polity has become sharply polarized and people are now more divided than ever before.
