The transition to democracy has taken many forms, paths, and modes; there are many things that impact this transition from history, culture, to the political interests of various social classes. The most important factor is whether or not the salient sections of society accept notions of representative government and rule of law as fundamental political values.
Democracy is a revolutionizing idea; not in terms of the revolutionary context, but in the sense of being radical idea in the climate of third world traditional Islamic societies. It is primarily a system of governance based on the consent of the governed and accountability of those who govern. When the basic constitutional arrangements of democracy are in place, and have a consensus of the elites, democracy begins to grow and develops and perfects itself through a political game where different layers of society perpetuate their interests.
Therefore, democratic changes have never occurred as a single package or at once. They have come incrementally through a series of invisible revolutions, social move ments and protests, and sometimes, in major shifts in power such as the French and American revolutions. Our argument has been that constitutionalism and representative governments are two important foundational ideas of Muslim modernism and the only way Pakistan can revive and recover itself, would be through the reworking and reforming its democracy.
There are a number of factors that should make one optimistic about growth and development of democracy in Pakistan. First, is a general elite consensus that we have repeatedly alluded to; it is both an ideological as well as a pragmatic interest of the traditional classes to support democracy. It helps them legitimize their traditional social power, brings them into the parliament and enables them to push the agenda of development for their respective constituencies. Simply, electoral politics is their political signifier and brings them more
It is another thing that they often abuse power and resources, as there is no effective system of checks and balances. Second, some of the democratic institutions and practices are as old as the early British electoral and constitutional reforms in the Subcontinent. Political parties, elections, local council, provincial and central legislatures, and the idea of constitution were rooted in the first half of the twentieth century.
Pakistan has continued to maintain some of these institutions and traditions over the past seventy years. Third, the ideas and political institutions, like free press, freedom of speech, political and civil society activism, and open debate and competitive politics have survived even during military and civilian authoritarianism. Today, the social and political climate for the development of democratic and civic political culture in Pakistan is far better than it has been at any time in the past, on account of the emergence of new social forces discussed above and a peaceful political transition, from one party to another in 2013. Finally, since imperial times a liberal political thinking has been in the making, though confined to urban, literate, and affluent middle classes. The liberal and modernist political consciousness has gone through many phases and has been under stress, but has never been fully suppressed.
The ideals of fundamental rights and freedom have no native home or country; they are universal, and natural aspirations of all living men and women, irrespective of faith or region of domicile. These are two core ideas that have shaped the modern world. Since these are powerful ideas that liberate individuals, groups and society, they are often resisted in the name of religion, tradition, or on the excuse of unique national circumstances. There are powerful sectors of society in Pakistan that view liberal ideas as alien, essentially a Western political construct. The familiar line of the apologists of authoritarianism is that Pakistan’s social structures cannot embrace universal ideas of liberty, human equality, rights, and dignity. The religious parties and radical Islamists confuse the issue by making the argument that the Islamic faith has the answer for every old and new problem, and one does not need to emulate the Western trajectory of political development or institution building to achieve progress. In our view, the arguments of the religious right and cultural determinists confuse the universal impulse for freedom, equality, and rule of law by conditioning it to tradition and religion.
We have heard these arguments before in other societies with different religions and cultures. It is important to remember that religion and social structures have been common weapons of obstruction that similar forces in the other parts of the world have used against the movement for human liberty and equal rights on the basis of citizenship. Most of the critique of liberal democracy in Pakistan rests on either ignorance or a lack of clarity about the philosophical roots, evolution, and practice of these ideas. Despite critique in certain conservative circles,
, if not liberalism, has gained national acceptance.
In contemporary Pakistan, we see a serious, albeit vague, engagement with discourses on social and political reform and ideological questions pertaining to constitutionalism, rights, and freedom. 19 It is a sign of change itself that there is a fresh exploration of ideas and new activism is taking place after decades of cynicism, passivity, and conscious de-politicization of society. It is a consensual view among observers and scholars, both domestic and foreign, that religious parties and Islamic radicals gained a lot of power via alignment with the military during the Zia and Musharraf years when there was a democratic vacuum in the country.
More democracy would generate diversity of views and pluralism resulting in opening the ideas and outlook of the religious parties to greater scrutiny than they have faced in times of authoritarian suffocation. However, in this long historical journey Pakistan has yet to achieve complete transition to democracy. No democracy in the world is perfect, let alone a developing and transitional democracy such as the one in Pakistan. There is no better expression to explain the problem of democratic development than the famous remark made by Winston Churchill: “Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”
It is quite common in Pakistan to see complaints against democratic governments over major and minor issues. There is widespread public disappointment with the performance of governments today, but this has always been the case with elected governments anywhere in the world. A universal critique of democratic governance goes like this: democracy is slow, politicians are self-centered and special interests capture greater space than the common good. This is truer in Pakistan when we see dynastic leaders, political parties, the electoral elite, political families, and powerful political groups, in every region of Pakistan, showing very few achievements and little success to the public.
What is the alternative to the bad, often dysfunctional democracy of Pakistan? Frankly speaking, there is none. After four military interventions and more than four democratic movements along with the restoration of the Constitution, democracy has emerged as a default position for Pakistan. Pakistan’s institutional endowment for democracy and civic culture is far stronger than that of any other Muslim state, and it has a long history of development of political and state institutions.
The country has acquired the social means and energies to improve conditions under democratic rule and it can certainly transform its crises-ridden democracy into a better one, as other nations have done. Pakistan’s future progress, order, stability, and coherence depend on a democracy that works, that is responsive and serves the public. On the other hand, misrule and corruption in the name of democratic legitimacy, as every elected government is guilty of, may produce disaffection and a legitimacy vacuum that in turn may breed despondency and extremism, as it has in the past.
Our argument has been that there is a link between systematic corruption, absence of effective justice, and generally bad governance and rise of extremism, terrorism, and militant ethnic nationalism. Misrule is perhaps a polite and benign expression for the massive plunder of Pakistan done by the ruling elite, often elected on the strength of illegal monies, and strong political networks. Most of the ruling elite have little respect for the people of the land or any real interest in the development of society. They are a part of the political system for the easy money they can make, and when the going gets a little tough, they escape to their safe havens abroad with their investments secure in dubious offshore companies.
As we have discussed in the previous chapters, among many causes for the rise of radical Islam, the major one is failure of the state institutions in providing education, establishing rule of law and governing according to good universal values and best practice. Unlawful behavior of the elite and the immunity they enjoy through their social power and political clout, have in turn produced many forms of illegalities in the society. The deterioration of values, the decline of institutions, and the weakening of laws and their implementation continue affecting every sector of the society.
The institutions of accountability have failed to nab the powerful and influential members of the political class. Their exercise of power has created a vacuum of ethical legitimacy that has been effectively exploited by radical ideologues who argue that the failure of the ruling elite is actually the “failure” of Western democracy, and that elected public figures are nothing but “tools” of Western powers. This narrative is attractive to a section of younger population at the lower levels of the society that lacks adequate education and consequently has limited employment opportunities and avenues for personal progress.
These are all serious problems and may continue to pull Pakistan down, thus resolving these, very pressing social, national issues will help revive the capacity of state and its institutions. In the regional climate of extremism and radical Islamic militancy, ignoring these problems, which are often associated with democracy and “democrats,” is not an option anymore
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