Exploring the Performance of and the Citizens’ Trust in Local Government Institutions (LGIs) at the Grassroots: Views from Bangladesh

Abstract

Considering the dearth of research on the performance of and the citizen’s trust in local government institutions (LGIs) in Bangladesh, this study focuses on Union Parishad (UP)—the lowest tier of LGIs at grassroots. By combining both quantitative and qualitative methods of investigation, primary data through questionnaire survey among service recipients and through key informants’ interviews with service providers have been collected, triangulated and analysed. The study, by evaluating institutional performance of the UPs against several variables, unveils a low level of citizen’s trust in UPs resulting from a low level of satisfaction regarding its performance. While the citizens identify the lack of timeliness, unfair practices and disrespectful behaviour during service delivery among key reasons behind the lack of trust, the institutional actors criticise the lack of institutional autonomy and resources for the poor performance and failures in satisfying local demands at the grassroots.