22I-1534 C Assignment-02

DEMOCRACY IN PAKISTAN:
A SOLUTION TO THE CRISES OR A CRISIS ITSELF?
In this article, the authors have attempted to explain the ambivalent concept of democracy and its
role in Pakistan’s 75 years of History. Nowadays, democracy has become a hot topic in Pakistan
but its status quo has become very ambiguous. Consequently, Fozia set out to raise awareness in
people about the concept of Democracy and its role so far in Pakistan; whether positive or negative.
Firstly, the authors, through constructive criticism, analyze and provide a brief history of
democracy, followed by the explanation of a few fundamental characteristics of Democracy,
including “Free and Fair Elections”, “Roles of Education, Judiciary and Media” and sensitive
matters such as “Freedom of Speech”. Next, they try to clear out some misconceptions people have
about democracy. Afterwards, they elaborate the flaws in the democratic system around the world
and especially in Pakistan by comparing it to non-democratic systems flourishing in the world and
explain its reasons. Lastly, they put forward some possible methods to improve the problematic
state of democracy in Pakistan.
At the outset, the writers explain the origin and history of democracy by mentioning the fact that
most of the democratic countries today, leaned towards democracy after the end of the 2nd World
War (1939-45) and particularly after the cold war (ending in 1991). The writers explain how the
slogan of democracy has been misused by different states, especially the USA for its personal gains
by giving the examples of its invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and its consequences. They also
mention India as the largest “democratic” state in the world and China as an example of prosperous
non-democratic systems. But in my opinion, India’s self-proclamation as a democracy is absurd.
Afterwards, the authors explain the significance of some important characteristics of democracy.
The first and most important one being the conduct of free and fair elections, without which the
whole democratic system of government would just fall down into pieces. Discussed next are the
respective roles of media, education and judiciary, whose explanations, in my opinion are quite
satisfactory. For example, the writers mentioned that media plays a vital role in the formation of
public opinion, and also helps to educate and raise awareness among voters. They also discussed
the fact that democracy was an unnatural and very rare phenomenon, which was born as a result
of a number of factors, a key one being education, citing the fact that the human history consists
of an almost never-ending list of wars and conflicts. Then they argued on the issue that while
judiciary has been given authority over all other institutions of the state, it should not cross the
limits set for it by the constitution. After that, they debate on the importance and sensitivity of vital
issues like freedom of speech and religious tolerance in the preservation of democracy.
Next, the writers attempt to explain by quoting “all good things do not necessarily go together.”,
that while democracy is a decent system of government, it isn’t the only one that works, or to be
specific, works the best. To substantiate this claim, primarily, they gave the example of China; a
communist state that has become so progressive that it has initiated the One Belt One Road project,
which is according to Parag Khanna, an Indian-American writer, “is the largest coordinated
infrastructure investment plan in human history.”
After that, they discussed the role of democracy in Pakistan. I agree with them when they mention
that despite the fact that Islam had introduced democracy about a thousand years before the western
world adopted it (and as Pakistan was established as an Islamic Democratic State), Pakistan has
failed to achieve a stable system of government. To validate this case, they mentioned the two
democratic intrudes, three different constitutions and the four martial law eras in the first 75 years
of its history and the fact that the first tenure completed by a Premier was after 30 years of
independence.
Subsequently, they discuss the reasons and factors contributing to this failure. These factors
include vital aspects such as multiple constitutions in a short span of time, negative role of political
parties, failure of state institutions in maintaining peace and law and order, which led to increases
in terrorism and extremism, and failure in conducting free and fair elections as well as the lack of
democratic norms.
In conclusion, the authors state that even though the democratic system of government is starting
to deteriorate, it can still be termed as the most famous and accepted system of government around
the world. Lastly, they set forth some practicable methods to fix the complex democratic mess that
Pakistan faces today.
Citation:
Fozia Bibi et al. “What is Democracy? Challenges for Democracy in Pakistan (2018)”, Global
Political Review.

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DEMOCRACY IN PAKISTAN:

A SOLUTION TO THE CRISES OR A CRISIS ITSELF?

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