Policy abundance, governance scarcity: A political economy analysis of disaster risk reduction failures in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is internationally recognized for reducing cyclone mortality, yet disaster losses remain at 0.5–1% of GDP annually, and social vulnerability continues to deepen. This preparedness–governance paradox motivates a systematic narrative review of 87 documents (2005–2025), drawing on governance and political-economy scholarship to explain why Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) policies have not produced long-term resilience. Using a four-dimensional framework, the review identifies persistent gaps in institutional capacity, coordination, financing, and inclusive participation: response spending outpaces prevention roughly 10:1, only 32% of local disaster management committees are functional, and women hold just 11% of local DRR leadership roles. Sendai Framework alignment is strong in preparedness (78/100) but weak in governance (45/100) and investment (58/100). These gaps stem from systemic political–economic dynamics, not merely policy design deficits, including centralization inertia, donor dependency, visibility-biased incentives, and weak accountability. Cross-national evidence from Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Nepal shows that governance reform, including fiscal decentralization, institutional accountability, and inclusive decision-making, can reduce disaster losses even under extreme hazard exposure. The findings call for moving beyond formal policy compliance toward transformative governance reform in Bangladesh and other climate-vulnerable countries.