It is a common view that power in Bangladesh is exercised through patron–client forms of exchange. These patron–client relationships are held together by moral proximity and intimacy and are diffused and multidimensional. Most recently, Basu et al. (2018, Politics and Governance in Bangladesh: Uncertain Landscapes, 1–16. London: Routledge) argue for the persuasive presence of patron–client relationships and its role as the informal, ‘real’ structure as opposed to the formal state structure. The portrait, however, leaves us with the image of a vast undifferentiated web where the only node is the one at the centre. This article seeks to temper this portrait by arguing that at a certain point the web is no longer undifferentiated. It has locally real, tangible nodes of substantial power—often referred to as mohol (quarter) in Bangla. These nodes of power are often albeit not invariably centred on the local MP. The existence of these nodes indicates a decentralised power structure, wherein power is located in numerable nodes across the country rather than centralised in Dhaka.

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莫霍尔：孟加拉国地方政治的隐藏权力结构

人们普遍认为，孟加拉国的权力是通过客户-客户的交换形式来行使的。这些赞助人-客户关系通过道德上的接近和亲密关系保持在一起，并且是分散的和多维的。最近，Basu 等人。（2018 年，孟加拉国的政治与治理：不确定的景观，1-16。伦敦：Routledge）认为赞助人-客户关系的存在及其作为非正式、“真实”结构的作用，而不是正式的国家结构。然而，这幅肖像给我们留下了一个巨大的无差别网络的形象，其中唯一的节点是中心的节点。这篇文章试图通过论证网络在某个时刻不再是无差别的来缓和这幅画像。它具有当地真实、有形的强大力量节点——在孟加拉语中通常被称为 mohol（季）。这些权力节点虽然并不总是以当地议员为中心。这些节点的存在表明权力结构是分散的，其中权力分布在全国的无数节点，而不是集中在达卡。