In this article, by studying the candidate-nomination process of the two major political parties, I show how power is distributed within the political party in Bangladesh. I show that the general acceptance by scholars that political power lies in the hands of the innermost circle of the political-party leadership in Bangladesh is too simplistic. A more nuanced observation of power and influence within the party structure shows that, in the context of Bangladesh's clientelistic political system, which is based on reciprocity between patrons and clients and relies on the ability of middlemen to organize and mobilize (in order to disrupt through hartals and strikes), power is often in the hands of those mid-level leaders who are in charge of mobilizing because their demands cannot be ignored by the topmost leadership. Through studying the candidate-nomination process of the major political parties and using the Narayanganj mayoral election of 2011 as a case study, I answer questions such as whose interests political parties are representing, what channels of influence are being used, and why these channels exist.

中文翻译：

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权力、赞助和候选人提名过程：来自孟加拉国的观察

在本文中，通过研究两个主要政党的候选人提名过程，我展示了孟加拉国政党内部的权力分配方式。我表明，学者普遍认为政治权力掌握在孟加拉国政党领导层的最核心圈子手中，这过于简单化了。对政党结构内权力和影响力的更细致观察表明，在孟加拉国的依附主义政治制度的背景下，这种制度基于赞助人和客户之间的互惠，并依赖于中间人的组织和动员能力（为了通过哈塔尔斯和罢工），权力往往掌握在那些负责动员的中层领导手中，因为他们的要求不能被最高领导层忽视。通过研究主要政党的候选人提名过程，并以 2011 年的 Narayanganj 市长选举为例，我回答了诸如政党代表谁的利益、正在使用哪些影响渠道以及为什么存在这些渠道等问题。 .