WHY HAS DEMOCRACY BEEN LESS SUCCESSFUL IN PAKISTAN THAN IN INDIA?

Abstract

Why does the post-Independence history of democracy in Pakistan contrast so sharply with that of India? The article suggests that there were historical factors to do with the vision of Pakistan as a Muslim state, differential inheritances at partition, with India inheriting the colonial state's unitary centre, the challenge of managing a diverse population separated by thousands of miles etc. In addition, the security problems with India amplified the role of the army and weakened the civilian politicians, many of whom were hardly democrats to start with. There were other external factors, principally US policy which saw Pakistan in a global geo-political context.

Notes

J. Brown, Modern India: The Origins of an Asian Democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994, p. 363.

M. Alagappa, Political Legitimacy in South East Asia: The Quest for Moral Authority. Stanford University Press, 1995, p. 295.

D. Held, Models for Democracy. Stanford University Press, 1987, p. 179.

Ibid., p. 179.

Ibid.

A. Ahmed, Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic Identity. London, New York: Routledge, 1997, p. 109.

Ibid.

Ibid.

A. Adnan, “Pakistan: Creation and Genesis”. The Muslim World Vol. 96 April (2006): 208.

Ibid.

S. Bose and A. Jalal, Modern South Asia. London and New York: Routledge, 1998, p. 143.

A. Adnan, “Pakistan: Creation and Genesis”. The Muslim World Vol. 96. April (2006): 202.

S. Bose and A. Jalal, Modern South Asia. London and New York: Routledge, 1998, p. 175.

A. Jalal, Democracy and Authoritarianism in South Asia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995, pp. 31–65.

Ibid.

Ibid.

M. Chadda, Building Democracy in South Asia. London: Lynne Rienner, 2000, pp. 41–42.

H. A. Rizvi, Military, State and Society in Pakistan. London: Macmillan, 2000, p. 4.

I. A. Haqqani, “Failure of Democracy in Pakistan?” The Muslim World Vol. 96. April (2006): 219–231.

M. A. Khan, Generals in Politics. London, Croon Helm: 1983, p. 6.

Ibid.

Ibid.

Ibid.

I. A. Haqqani, “Failure of Democracy in Pakistan?”. The Muslim World Vol. 96. April (2006): 224.

Ibid., p. 225.

K. Ahmed, “Pakistan: Vision and Reality, Past and Future”. The Muslim World Vol. 96. April (2006): 374.

http://www.Indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/welcome.html

http://www.Pakistan.org/Pakistan/Constitution/Preamble.html, retrieved 2 October 2009.

S. V. R. Nasr, The Vanguard of the Islamic Revolution, The Jamat-i-Islami. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994, p. 117.

C. Baxter, Government and Politics in South Asia. Oxford: Boulder, COLO and Oxford: Westview Press, 1998, p. 163.

S. A. A. Mawdudi, Towards Understanding Islam. Leicester: Islamic Dawah Centre International, 2004.

H. Afshar, “Democracy and Islam”. Democracy Series. 2006, p. 9. Pamphlet launched by Hansard Society as the first in the Hansard Democracy Series.

Ibid.

B. Bhutto, Reconciliation: Her Final Words on Islam, Democracy and the West. London and New York: Pocket Books, 2008, p.194 and p.69.

Retrieved 30 March 2009 from http://www.ppp.org.pk/history

Additional information

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Kunal Mukherjee

After graduating from Presidency College, Calcutta University, Kunal Mukherjee took both his Masters and his Doctorate at Nottingham University. He now teaches, partly there but mostly at Nottingham Trent University.