Wright State University CORE Scholar Browse all Theses and Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 2020 How does relative deprivation cause people to condone political violence? A case study of Bangladesh Md Mamunur Rashid Wright State University Follow this and additional works at: https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/etd_all Part of the International Relations Commons Repository Citation Rashid, Md Mamunur, "How does relative deprivation cause people to condone political violence? A case study of Bangladesh" (2020). Browse all Theses and Dissertations. 2325. https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/etd_all/2325 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at CORE Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Browse all Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of CORE Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HOW DOES RELATIVE DEPRIVATION CAUSE PEOPLE TO CONDONE POLITICAL VIOLENCE? A CASE STUDY OF BANGLADESH A Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts By MD MAMUNUR RASHID B.S.S., University of Dhaka, 2015 2020 Wright State University WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL May 04, 2020 I HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY SUPERVISION BY Md Mamunur Rashid ENTITLED How does Relative Deprivation Cause People to Condone Political Violence? A Case Study of Bangladesh BE ACCEPTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Master of Arts. _____________________________ Carlos E. Costa, Ph.D. Thesis Director _____________________________ Laura M. Luehrmann, Ph.D. Director, Master of Arts Program in International and Comparative Politics Committee on Final Examination: ________________________________ Carlos E. Costa, Ph.D. School of Public and International Affairs ________________________________ Laura M. Luehrmann, Ph.D. School of Public and International Affairs ________________________________ Pramod Kantha, Ph.D. School of Public and International Affairs ________________________________ Barry Milligan, Ph.D. Interim Dean of the Graduate School ABSTRACT Rashid, Md Mamunur. M.A., International and Comparative Politics Program, Wright State University, 2020. How does Relative Deprivation Cause People to Condone Political Violence? A Case Study of Bangladesh. How does relative deprivation cause people to condone political violence? This thesis investigates this question by utilizing survey data conducted in Bangladesh. Scarcity of public resources, lethal political confrontation and poor resource allocation make Bangladesh a fertile ground for violence. Although the survey suggests a relationship exists between relative deprivation and the public attitude toward condoning political violence, the regression analysis reveals that the relationship is imprecise. Small sample size, lack of technical capacity, and limited applicability of the foundational theory may have caused this imprecise outcome. The study concludes by providing recommendations for future research to undertake a mixed method for this sensitive topic. Keywords: Bangladesh, relative deprivation, political violence, leadership and citizenry approach of violence. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION..........................................................................1 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW...............................................................6 The debate over democracy .....................................................................................6 How does democracy differ in terms of political violence? ....................................8 Can violence be used as a political tool? …………………………….....…………9 Why violence works ..............................................................................................10 What causes elites and masses to condone violence? .......................................... 11 The theory of relative deprivation and political violence ….................................14 Hypothesis..............................................................................................................16 CHAPTER THREE: CASE SELECTION.................................................................17 Where and how to calculate the relationship between relative deprivation and support for political violence..................................................................................17 The Selection Process.............................................................................................17 Background of Relative Deprivation and Political Violence in Bangladesh.........19 Clientelism and Relative Deprivation ……………………………...………..20 Political Party, Criminality and Violence.........................................................20 Manifestation of Political Violence..................................................................22 iv CHAPTER FOUR: METHODOLOGY, TESTING THE THEORY AND ADDRESSING THEORETICAL CHALLENGES...................................................25 Methodology..........................................................................................................25 Operational Definition of Political Violence....................................................25 Operational Definition of Relative Deprivation...............................................26 Design of the Survey........................................................................................27 Reviewing Variables..............................................................................................28 Testing the Theory: Regression Results and Analyses..........................................30 Addressing Theoretical Challenges.......................................................................33 CHAPTER FIVE: LIMITATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, CONCLUSION.....38 Introduction ...........................................................................................................38 Limitations of the Study ........................................................................................38 Challenges of Conducting an Open-End Interview .........................................46 Recommendations for the Future Research............................................................47 Conclusion..............................................................................................................48 APPENDIX 1.1 (THE ORIGINAL RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE)...............50 APPENDIX 1.2 (RATIONALE OF THE SURVEY)……......................................55 APPENDIX 1.3 (CODE BOOK)…...........................................................................58 BIBLIOGRAPHY......................................................................................................62 v LIST OF TABLES Table Page Table 1: The distribution of Political Violence in Bangladesh from 2002 to 2013) ………………………………………..........21 Table 2: Involvement of Major Actors in Violent Events (from 2002 to 2013) ………………………………………....22 Table 3: Models on Deprivation and Violence ………………………………………...............................................30 vi LIST OF ACRONYMS BAL- Bangladesh Awami League BNP- Bangladesh Nationalist Party OLS- Ordinarily Least Squares USA- United States of America vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all I would like to express my utmost gratitude and appreciation to my thesis chair Dr. Carlos E. Costa for his consistent guidance and constructive advice throughout the writing of this paper. I want to thank him for encouraging me to go ahead with one of the most ambitious endeavors I have undertaken in my entire life. Dr. Costa‟s continuous advice, objective comments, and editorial suggestions were essential to the completion of this study. I would also like to thank Drs. Pramod Kantha and Laura M. Luehrmann for offering their valuable insights and comments on my study. I am grateful to the faculty and staff of the School of Public and International Affairs, especially Dr. Luehrmann for her guidance from the very first day at Wright State. I would like to acknowledge the unwavering support provided by the Paul Laurence Dunbar Library staff; they offered me valuable resources necessary for this study. Finally, I would like to thank my wife and my parents for their support and encouragement throughout this journey. viii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION Political violence is a harsh reality for many countries in the developing world. However, within academia it is possible to investigate the many varieties of political violence to help mitigate this challenge. This thesis will explore how relative deprivation causes people to condone political violence. It focuses on a specific case country, namely Bangladesh, which is selected through a scientific approach. This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the research question: how does relative deprivation cause people to support or condone political violence? Modernization theorists Lipset (1963), Rostow (1960), Apter (1967), and others in the 1960s have suggested that if countries of the developing world follow the path of development through industrialization they would be able to institutionalize democracy, civil, and human rights. The theory of modernization has capitalized on evidence drawn from industrialized democracies in Europe. As part of democratic development, western nations gain strong control over political violence. However, the modernization theory has faced criticism because when developing nations industrialize, instead of making progress, as Collier and Rohner (2008) point