Asian Research Thesis Index

Abstract

Pakistan has a plural society; its governance model is more focused on state-building rather than nation-building. This model is a colonial legacy which is incompatible with its diverse society and hence not mending to needs of diverse polity. The history of Pakistan since existence has thrown up governability issues; its governance model (Majoritarian) tends to provide an effective governance system through majority or one party rule (based on electoral mechanism) rather than representing all important segments of society. The reality lies in the incompatibility of this governance system and the social norms of Pakistan. This system was used by colonial power to exploit the society and resources of sub-continent. Pakistan, after its birth, had to face the major issue of a unanimously accepted and drafted constitution for years. Similarly, factional fissure in the founding political party i.e. the Muslim League and lack of consensus over lingua franca also generated issues. The adopted constitution (1935 Indian Act) was a continuity of the centralized federal and old British exploitative system. This system implanted seeds of many issues including the debacle of East-Pakistan. Pakistan inherited many colonial legacies and practiced them continuously. The most prominent channel of these legacies was constitutions formed and abrogated in different era i.e. Constitutions 1956, 1962 and finally 1973 which also saw many amendments by civilian and military governments. There are contradictions in the constitution and power-sharing mechanism which produced the conflict over distributive management. This thesis aims to raise issue of mainstreaming the marginalized groups into polity through quality democracy. Pakistan is a land of diverse people, cultures and languages. These identities are in constant and direct clash with central government over mismanagement of resources and un-proportional division of jobs in public leading institutions. The hegemony of few ethnic and lingual groups brought about political movements. However, NFC awards were announced many times and provinces agreed upon a shared formula. Same pattern of compromise by political elites can also be traced in political history of Pakistan. The same compromise, accommodation, consensus and positive role of the political elites are the very essence of the Consociationalism. This federal design has a history of development in Europe and growth and application in Asian and African countries, too. This study observes some successful stories of Consociations which has close resemblance to Pakistan in their political and social developments. Scholars inside and outside Pakistan are debating the incompatibility of Majoritarian Model to manage plural society of Pakistan. The print and electronic media of Pakistan is also raising the concern of intelligentsia with the relationship between structures of the federal system of Pakistan with its society. This debate is very important to find out some hypothetical panacea to provide quality democracy, although not aiming to refute another practice.

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