Beyond Institutions: Patronage and Informal Participation in Bangladesh’s Hybrid Regime

Abstract

ABSTRACT Why do ordinary citizens embrace informal participation in hybrid regimes? Existing literature suggests that informal politics emerges in the absence of formal participatory avenues. But in many hybrid regimes, citizens participate in informal avenues alongside formal participatory spaces. This paper examines informal participation among urban middle-class citizens in Bangladesh – a hybrid regime – between 2009 and 2011. It draws on 60 semi-structured, open-ended, and expert interviews involving middle-class residents in Ward 27 of Dhaka city. It argues that in Bangladesh, informal participation is tied to the particular institutional configuration of the country’s hybrid regime. As ruling parties exercise patronage across government institutions, ordinary citizens adopt informal activities to meet their survival needs. Findings suggest that informal participation can transform the social order through the emergence of new grassroots-level institutions that embody ordinary peoples’ interests.