Some elections do more than simply determine winners and losers; they fundamentally alter the political landscape, shape the system of governance, and influence the future trajectory of the country. Ali Riaz looks at “landslide elections” – where the winning side received close to two-thirds of the votes cast -- in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka over the past four decades.   

Ali Riaz is a Wilson Center Public Policy Scholar and professor and chair of the Department of Politics and Government at Illinois State University. He previously taught at universities in South Carolina, England, and Bangladesh, and has also worked as a broadcast journalist with the BBC World Service in London. His publications include the book Inconvenient Truths about Bangladeshi Politics (2012); the co-edited volume Political Islam and Governance in Bangladesh (2010); and the book Islamist Militancy in Bangladesh: A Complex Web (2008).  

RSVP Now.