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. The robustness of civil society in a weak state, such as a hybrid regime, can be dangerous for democracy. It is also important to analyze the nature of civil society to assess its effectiveness toward democracy. Moreover, civil society in hybrid regimes can be a tool for the regime’s stability. An increasing amount of literature explains different forms of hybrid regimes’ stability strategies. Within the regime stability scholarship, researchers explain three pillars of stability: repression, co-optation, and legitimation. Along with repression and co-optation strategies, hybrid regimes mainly focus on legitimation pillars due to the difficulties of using the other two. Civil society may help in the regime legitimation process. However, a small amount of research focuses on civil society's role in authoritarian legitimation. Therefore, this thesis aims to analyze the nature and effectiveness of civil society in a hybrid 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 shows that Bangladesh's civil society is ineffective toward democratization and democratic consolidation. Moreover, this thesis also shows that civil society in Bangladesh is a helpful instrument in authoritarian legitimation. This thesis mainly contributes to the understanding of civil society in a hybrid regime and civil society’s 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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Available for download on Thursday, July 10, 2025

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