Introduction :
From ancient Pharaohs to modern-day Presidents and Prime Ministers, leaders who belong to dynasties are a common feature of the political landscape.Just as in the case of family-run,the existence of dynastic leaders raises the question of whether they are good or bad for economic performance at the country level. Political dynasties have long been present in democracies, raising concerns that inequality in the distribution of political power may reflect imperfections in democratic representation.

WHY DYNASTY?
The characteristics of political leaders matter depends on how much discretionary authority they employ. In particular, if executive con- straints are weak, selection through dynasties could be important, especially if leadership competence is transmitted across generations through either nature or nurture. Moreover, dynastic selection of leaders based on their competence will result in a positive correlation between economic perfor-mance and having a dynastic leader in o¢ ce. Dynasties will also become established and survive based on economic performance.

Selection through Dynasties
We use an extremely simple adverse selection model to illustrate the main ideas and to motivate the empirical test. While there are many simplifying features built into the model, it is based on two core ideas: (i) internal controls (executive constraints) lowers the economic cost of having incompetent leaders (ii) if internal controls are ab-sent, then performance-related selection is valuable and will lead to selection through dynasties if there is a positive correlation of leadership competence within families.

The two major political parties in Bangladesh are dynastic, like other wellknown parties in South Asia. Political dynasty means a prominent political family runs the party. This restricts the level of internal democracy of the parties: decision-making, including leadership selection, becomes a ‘family affair’. This is particularly problematic in Bangladesh, which struggles for democratic consolidation, and where the political parties should have been “schools of democracy” and develop citizens’ civic skills through transparency, voice, and participation.

POLITICAL DYNASTIES IN SOUTH ASIA
Political dynasties are common in most of SouthAsia, In contrast to India and Pakistan where the political dynasties are in crisis, the Bangladeshi dynasties are thriving and growing. In Bangladesh, the two same political families have led the two leading parties, the Awami League (AL) and the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) for 40 and 35 years, respectively, and family succession seems secured.

POLITICAL DYNASTIES IN BANGLADESH
In Bangladesh, one of the national political dynasties has its roots in the struggle for independence, and the other in a military dictatorship. The dynasties were, however, established and consolidated only after Bangladesh’ independence from Pakistan in
1971, and they have expanded and secured their status after the re-establishment of democracy in 1991.The first Bangladeshi government was democratically elected in 1973 but did not last very long. President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family was assassinated in 1975, and the military made its first coup blaming his attempts to make Bangladesh a socialist oneparty state. Another military government took over in 1982, and successive military rulers held the reins of power for many years.Formal, multiparty democracy was restored with free and fair elections in 1991.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, ‘Father of the Nation’, President of AL, first President of
Bangladesh 1971-75
Zillur Rahman, a distant relative to Hasina, former Gen. Sec. of AL and President of
Bangladesh 2009-13 (deceased 2013)
Sheikh Hasina, daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, leader of AL and current Prime
Minister
Sheikh Helal Uddin, cousin of Hasina, MP
Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed (Joy), son of Hasina, “special advisor” to AL and possible heir
Sheikh Rehana, Hasina’s sister
Abul Hasnat Abdullah, cousin of Hasina, member of AL Working Committee
Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, cousin of Hasina, member of AL Presidium, MP, former minister Nazmul Hasan Papon, son of Zillur Rahman, MP

the two parties AL and BNP have dominated politics, won every other election, and ruled one after the other (except for a military dominated interregnum in 2007-2008).
The Awami League (AL) is a centre-left and secular party, founded in 1949 in opposition to the domination of (West) Pakistan. After the assassination of its leader, the party was decapitated with other party leaders executed, arrested, or going into exile. Sheikh Hasina, Mujibur’s daughter, took over the party in 1981. She was the Prime Minister from 1996 to 2001, and is again today. In particular during her first premiership, the family established itself as a ruling dynasty, building up a political basis in government and administration, and expanding its economic power.Sheikh Hasina’s distant uncle (by marriage), Zillur Rahman, was President of Bangladesh from 2009 until he died early 2013. A couple of Hasina’s cousins play important roles in the party. Her son, Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed (Joy), now seems to be groomed to take over. He has joined the party (as ‘primary member’) and he is a ‘special advisor’ to the party president (his mother). He has “been asked” by several local AL leaders to “take responsibility”, and he has recently taken part in mass meetings and international visits along with her.
Bangladesh’ first military ruler, Ziaur (“Zia”) Rahman (not family related to the Rahmans above), founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in 1978. As a part of a process of civilianising his regime and consolidating his hold on power, he launched the party that (unsurprisingly) won the elections held in 1979 under military rule.In 1981 Zia was (like Mujibur) assassinated by a group of military officers, and new military leaders took over. Thus, the Zia dynasty was established only when Zia’s widow Khaleda Zia took over the leadership of the BNP party in 1984, and it wasfortified and expanded when the party won the first democratic, multiparty elections in 1991.Khaleda became Prime Minister from 1991 to 1996, briefly in a contested and short government in 1996, and again from 2001 to 2006. Her brother and sister (now deceased) used to have influential roles in the BNP party. Khaleda’s son, Tarique Rahman, was nominated to the position of ‘Senior Vice-Chairperson’ in 2009 and effectively made the heir of the party. Beyond the two majorparties, there are two other relatively important parties, but these are not dynastic. The third biggest party, the Jatiya Party (JP), was established by (yet) a former military ruler, Ershad. The JP is more ‘dictatorial’ than dynastic. Although his brother and wife are members of the JP ‘presidium’, Ershad is the party chairman for life, dominating the decisionmaking process, and appointing all posts of his party. The fourth biggest party, the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, seems to be guided by principle (i.e. Islamist ideology) rather than person.
Bangladesh’ ‘first-past-the-post’ (FPTP) electoral system favours the two leading parties, and all other parties gravitate towards the two. Although there are about 120 other parties, all the other six parties in parliament and very many others have allied with one of the two majors. From 1991 onwards voters have effectively been presented with two choices; one alliance led by the AL (the so-called Grand Alliance) and another by the BNP (the so-called 18-Party Alliance). In other words, the two dynasties embrace almost all political life in Bangladesh.

In many countries, including India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, political dynasty is a vote-catcher.In particular in countries with large illiterate populations, well-known people simply gain more votes. When the parties’ policies are hardly distinguishable and the simple majority

Ziaur (Zia) Rahman, founding president of BNP, President of Bangladesh 1977-1981
Khurshid Jahan Haque, sister of Khaleda Zia, former MP and Minister (deceased
2006)
Sayeed Eskandar, brother of Khaleda Zia, former Vice Chairman of BNP, former MP
(deceased 2012)
Khaleda Zia, wife of Zia, party leader since 1983, former Prime Minister
Tarique Rahman, son of Khaleda Zia, Senior Vice Chairman of BNP electoral system personify politics further, election campaigns and politics tend to focus on personalities and families.Besides, voters and party activists, as well as party officials at different levels, say the party president is the obvious leader because of his/ her leadership qualities and that dynasty is a necessary tool to keep the party together (as factionalism is a real problem). In fact, dynastic leaders can be defeated in elections, but will not be pushed out of the chairmanship because of that (at least not in Bangladesh).Political dynasty is also a mechanism for promoting and protecting the status and economic interest of the family. In the words of one observer, “even reluctant ‘heirs’ like Rahul Gandhi is dragged along and promoted because this is the only way the family can stay in power”.Political dynasties tend to accumulate economic positions, to be owners of private businesses and to be managers of public enterprises, in addition their political positions. Political power gives the family businesses access to government resources, contracts, licences, and favours. Political dynasty is cronyism.

Extra:

The core idea in the model is that dynasties can serve as a selection de- vice when there are weak internal controls on leaders. Moreover dynasties will survive only when their economic performance is strong enough. We should observe stronger economic performance among countries with dynas- tic leaders due to this selection process and the survival of dynasties should be related to their economic performance.