The Charter on the Wall

This book offers a rigorous examination of the implementation of the Citizen Charter in Bangladesh’s urban local government system. Drawing on extensive mixed-method fieldwork conducted in the Rajshahi City Corporation and Khulna City Corporation, the book investigates how a reform intended to promote timely, accountable, and citizen-centred public service delivery became largely disconnected from administrative practice and public awareness.

Situating the Citizen Charter within Bangladesh’s broader New Public Management reform agenda, the book traces the origins, adoption, and implementation of the policy, highlighting the crucial role played by civil society organisations in its development. Through five analytical lenses, namely policy standards and objectives, resource allocation, citizen awareness, information access, and legal mandate enforcement, it provides a detailed account of the factors that limited the charter’s effectiveness.

Beyond the Bangladeshi case, the book contributes to wider debates on policy transfer, institutional reform, and governance in the Global South. It examines the challenges of transplanting administrative models developed in different political and institutional contexts without adequate adaptation. Combining empirical evidence with theoretical insight, The Charter on the Wall makes a significant contribution to scholarship on public administration, urban governance, development policy, and South Asian politics, while offering a critical reflection on the gap between policy design and policy implementation.