The Shift of Power from the Public Representatives to the Bureaucratic and Military Elite: Case Study of the First Decade of Pakistan (original) (raw)
Related papers
Role of Military in Politics and Federal Dilemma in Pakistan: 1999-2008
Journal of Political Studies, 2017
The challenges of federalism in Pakistan are multidimensional in nature and largely associated with various dynamics of politics. Lack of democratic practices, political instability, low political culture and type of government exercising its control at the federal level are those factors which considerably affect the federal politics in Pakistan. The repeated dissolutions of the National Assembly and the consequent fall of provincial assemblies during the decade of the1990s also stressed the federal notion in Pakistan. The problems of federalism in Pakistan were further augmented by the arrival of a military administration in power on October 12, 1999.Even though, a constitutional government was established as a result of the general election of 2002but it did not diminish the centralization and authoritarian trends as the center of political power was still a military man. This paper expounds that under Musharraf regime, prime intent of devising policies was to secure legitimacy of his rule and federal issues were not dealt with federal and political means. This research expounds that type of regime is relevant to federal practices in Pakistan and military led regimes in Pakistan are less responsive to federal challenges and ethnic demands as under their conception of unity in command, federal consensus and bargain are less pertinent. This led to decline the role of elected legislatures and federal institutions as the federal notion of the state was largely hampered. This study aims to address the issue that how military intervention into politics augmented the federal problems in Pakistan and to what extent type of regime is relevant to federal practices in Pakistan?
Role of Military as the Guardian of Democracy in Pakistan
This article investigates the role of military in the politics of Pakistan. The researcher highlights how our politicians have always been unable to develop a political culture on democratic parameters in the country. Side by side the masses start lacking trust in the politicians and political setup for their authoritarian attitude and inheritor leadership. Our political parties, no doubt, have good shows in the case of local leaders but unluckily they have been lethargic in giving birth to the leaders of national and international caliber. This factor creates gaps for military to enter politics and stay there under the very doctrine of 'necessity'. Since the very early days of our emergence on the globe of the world, there has been a misconception that military may align all the disorders and civil institutions are not allowed to promote but in fact military did some better than these politicians. The research is based on the analysis of the authentic material in the form of literature in comparative politics, institutional theory, as well as civil military relations and political sector reforms. Through the conceptualization of the data, the researchers have developed thier stance that if our politicians learn to make decisions wisely like those of India, the results would be far better and healthier as both states got independence on the same turn of the history.
Democracy in Pakistan: A Failed Attempt
independence. It was the time when Pakistani military established its organizational role. Due to this role, people started looking for the solution of political problems under military umbrella.
Institutions are essential organs of the state and bureaucracy is one of these which is considered as the backbone of polity of the particular state. Pakistan inherited the British trained bureaucracy, the only trained institution which they left behind them. In the early years of freedom, state came under stormy environment and the bureaucrats were holding the steering wheel of country's fate. They were supposed to keep themselves away from political landscape unless and until the country had attained stability. However, due to institutional clashes and corrupt practices, the bureaucrats remained the part of political scenario of the state and resultantly provided a safe road map to military personnel to intervene in the political arena of the country due to which the country had to face a democratic downfall and it paved the way for Martial Law on 7 th October, 1958. The study has analyzed the parliamentary democracy in Pakistan and role of bureaucracy in the political landscape of the Pakistan from 1947-1951 It has elaborated all the implications which had transferred the political system of Pakistan from bad to the worst.
Historical Analysis of Successive Governments in Pakistan: A History of First Six Decades, 1947-2007
Pakistan is widely being portrayed a weak democratic state as elected governments were unnecessarily broken frequently. Violence in the recent years has given more strength to the negative perception of Pakistan as a polity not conducive for democratic institutions, this was doubled with the risk of military coup, which overshadowed the encouraging trends, like the maturing of Pakistani democracy, as demonstrated in parliament's adoption of far-reaching constitutional reforms. It is also evident that international community, at least indirectly if not directly, is the responsible for the lack of democracy and peace in Pakistan. Western powers, particularly, supported military government to promote their ideal of stability under misperceptions or for safeguarding of their own interests.
Historical Perspective of Political and Constitutional Development in Pakistan
The political and constitutional history of Pakistan over the years has been quite enigmatic. The unprecedented political crises, security threats, failure of domestic and external policies impaired the political development of the country considerably. While looking at the historical underpinnings, the political system was dominated by bureaucratic-military elites. They developed symbiotic relationship along with feudal lords who readily accepted the policy of second fiddle. Military along with bureaucracy collaborated to restructure the political system and brought constitutional changes to consolidate power. On the other hand the political parties were unable to capitalize upon political power. They remained averse to solving political issues, invariably contributed in strengthening the hands of extra constitutional forces. The ineffective system of accountability, weak organization of judiciary and social backwardness were among other factors which hampered political development considerably. This paper attempts to unfold the historical analysis of political and constitutional development and how those developments impacted the political system of Pakistan. Key words: Military-bureaucratic oligarchy, mushroom growth of political parties, political structures in the state of disequilibrium
Democratic Crisis in Pakistan : A Critical View
Dr. DHARMENDRA
The long-standing military rule in Pakistan has given the army an opportunity to make inroads into the entire system of government. Political parties, the judiciary, the bureaucracy and the media-military supporters are present in all sections. Therefore, there is no longer any need for military rebellion to unseat a democratically elected political leader who has differences with the army. Indeed, if former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had completed his term, he would have been the first elected Prime Minister to do so. He was also in a position to be elected for a second consecutive term. Sharif's political career may have ended with disqualification, but the real defeat in Pakistan is that of democracy. The present paper produces the picture of democratic crisis in Pakistan.
Military Establishment and Civil-Military Nexus in Historical Perspective of Pakistan (1947-2015
Dyal Singh Journal of Humanities and Social Science (DSJHSS), 2023
The state of Pakistan has faced long military rules. The military establishment in the state is more influential as compared to civilian political institutions due to past legacy and structural settings. The civil-military tussle has remained at the top of Pakistan's political arena. The paper highlighted the major causes of military intervention in the state including weak civil institutions, leadership crisis, Weak judiciary, meagre economy, inefficient political parties and lack of consensus-building culture. By working on these mentioned reasons, a viable civil political supremacy may be maintained. The paper has analysed the civil-military relations since independence till 2015. It concludes that there must be a good working relationship between these institutions to eliminate the institutional imbalance in the state.
Review of \u3ci\u3eThe Army and Democracy: Military Politics in Pakistan\u3c/i\u3e by Aqil Shah
2018
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. This Review is brought to you for free and open access by the DigitalCommons@Macalester College at DigitalCommons@Macalester College. It has been accepted for inclusion in HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies by an authorized Recommended Citation