Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date

2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Political Science

Committee Chair

Dr. Matthias Kaelberer

Committee Member

Dr. Nicole Detraz

Committee Member

Dr. Dursun Peksen

Abstract

While civil society is treated as a helpful instrument for democratization, it is not always a positive force in hybrid regimes. A robust civil society in a hybrid regime can be a threat to democracy. Moreover, civil society in a competitive authoritarian regime, a form of hybrid regime, can be a tool for the regime’s stability. A growing body of literature explains various strategies for maintaining authoritarian regime stability. Within the regime stability scholarship, researchers explain three pillars of stability: repression, co-optation, and legitimation. Along with repression and co-optation strategies, authoritarian regimes also focus on legitimation pillars due to the difficulties of using the other two. Civil society can contribute to the regime's legitimation process. However, a small amount of research focuses on civil society's role in authoritarian legitimation. To understand the role of civil society in authoritarian legitimation, it is also crucial to analyze the nature of civil society and assess its effectiveness in democratization. Therefore, this thesis aims to analyze the nature and effectiveness of civil society in an authoritarian regime and the role of civil society in authoritarian legitimation. Using existing literature and case study methods, this research shows that civil society in Bangladesh is an overdeveloped civil society, which is not a positive force for democratization. The analysis demonstrates that Bangladesh's civil society is ineffective toward democratization and democratic consolidation. Finaly, this thesis shows that civil society in Bangladesh is a helpful instrument in authoritarian legitimation. This thesis primarily contributes to the understanding of the role of civil society in authoritarian regimes and its role in regime stability

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest

Notes

Embargoed until 2025-07-10

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