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Bangladesh has received scholarly attention about the extent and nature of Islamism in the political domain. We argue that, to analyze the significance of religion in the political process, it is essential to consider the role of religion in both influencing the policy and electoral outcome. Based on an in-depth qualitative study during the most recent election of 2008, we review previous elections results and the policy influence of religion-based parties; we argue that, in Bangladesh, Islamic parties' policy influence is very high and electoral success is very low. A deeply entrenched civil religion in the form of nationalistic identity bars religion from playing a significant role in influencing the voting behavior of the citizens. The mainstream political parties have so far failed to recognize the significance of this civil religion.

AbstractIn the public administration literature, several studies have been conducted to analyze the performance of the developing countries in embracing the New Public Management (NPM) principles in general. However, limited attention has been paid to explore the experiences of these countries in implementing a performance‐based accountability system, which is an integral part of the NPM movement. This paper analyzes the experience of Bangladesh, wherein 2014, the Government introduced a key performance‐based accountability initiative known as Annual Performance Agreement (APA). In this paper, based on in‐depth qualitative interviews with 42 bureaucrats at different levels and ministries of the Government, we argue that APA has improved the professional accountability of the bureaucracy. Based on this crucial finding, we try to explain why this particular initiative has succeeded whereas previous administrative reform efforts have largely failed. We argue that whereas the past reform efforts targeted broad organizational reforms, the current performance‐based initiatives like APA aimed to bring small‐scale incremental efficiency and effectiveness of bureaucrats. This change in the reform approach has played a pivotal role in ensuring the success of a performance‐based professional accountability system. The model we have developed for categorizing administrative reform efforts in this paper may be used to better understand the success and failure of administrative reform efforts in general and in developing countries in particular.

Pre-emptive school closures are frontline community mitigation measures recommended by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for implementation during severe pandemics. This study describes the spatiotemporal patterns of publicly announced school closures implemented in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and assesses how public K-12 districts adjusted their methods of education delivery and provision of subsidized meals. During February 18–June 30, 2020, we used daily systematic media searches to identify publicly announced COVID-19–related school closures lasting ≥1 day in the United States (US). We also collected statewide school closure policies from state government websites. Data on distance learning and subsidized meal programs were collected from a stratified sample of 600 school districts. The first COVID-19–associated school closure occurred on February 27, 2020 in Washington state. By March 30, 2020, all but one US public school districts were closed, representing the first-ever nearly synchronous nationwide closure of public K-12 schools in the US. Approximately 100,000 public schools were closed for ≥8 weeks because of COVID-19, affecting >50 million K-12 students. Of 600 districts sampled, the vast majority offered distance learning (91.0%) and continued provision of subsidized meal programs (78.8%) during the closures. Despite the sudden and prolonged nature of COVID-19–associated school closures, schools demonstrated flexibility by implementing distance learning and alternate methods to continue subsidized meal programs.