Elite Political Culture and Cosmopolitanism; A case study of Pakistan (2008-2018)

 Elite Political Culture and Cosmopolitanism: A Case Study of Pakistan (2008-18) 

Mohammad Ashfaq, b Yasmin Roofi* Department of Political Science, The Islamia University Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan. 

 *Corresponding Author Email ID: mohammad_ashfaq@hotmail.com

 INTRODUCTION Culture typically consists of those attitudes, values, beliefs, ideals, and orientations that predominate in a given society, whereas, political culture consists of the same components but focuses on how those values are translated into people’s views of politics, their assessments of political systems, and their role in the polity ''(Camp, 2001). It provides a linkage between people and government and explains how the pattern and behavior of any political system are changed. Inglehart is of the view that political culture has a direct and very prominent role in maintaining and strengthening democracy. He argues that mass values have an important bearing on making a democratic system strong. He says that " trust, tolerance, and feelings of efficacy represent ‘civic virtues’ that enable democratic regimes to function effectively” (Inglehart, 2005: 157). The concept of political culture is not monolithic as it comprises subcultures having diverse characteristics and different social, ethnic, and racial values and orientations. Elitism can be based upon one family or more than that having an aim to encircle power politics for personal interests. They can belong to distinct races, languages, cultures, religions, sects, or ethnic identities but form a cartel to monopolize the political and state system. Therefore, Deric Shannon and Davita S. Glasberg call such monopolization “elite pluralism” that influences the electoral behavior of the masses; usually in third-world countries like Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh (Connolly, 2005: 131-132). At the same time, Gaetano Mosca defines elitism as the ruling class; further divided into political elite and non-political elite that affect socio-political segments morally, materialistically, and intellectually (Volpe, 2021: 02). The elite political culture of Pakistan has significantly influenced the political institutions and created hurdles in the smooth functioning of the democratic political A B S T R A C T Each state seeks solidarity and stability by ensuring unity and harmony among the socio-cultural and political segments within its territorial jurisdiction. This study looks at the elite political culture in Pakistan that has been highly criticized for stimulating social complexities by proliferating numerous sorts of political, ethnic, religious/sectarian, or linguistic differences. From 1999 to 2007, when a new class of political elites emerged on the surface of electoral politics as the results of the ‘Devolution Plan 2000’, ‘condition of graduation for public representatives’ and the ‘17th amendment’ under the slogan of “Pakistan First”; some court verdicts and constitutional engineering during PPP’s third rule upturned respective fruits by bringing back the former elite political culture or traditional elitism as the biggest opposition to populism, political egalitarianism, and democratic liberalism. Therefore, this study conducts a comparative study of PPP and PML(N) regimes (2008-2013 & 2013-2018 respectively) to find out the correlation between elite political culture and political system that is directly proportional to cosmopolitanism. This comparison assists the study to investigate the contributions of post-18th amendment elite political culture to the problematics of democracy during an addressed decade in Pakistan. Keywords: Democratic Elitism, Elite Political Culture, Post-18th Amendment Political System, Feudalism, Pluralism, Social-Centrism, Pakistan. J. S. Asian Stud. 11 (01) 2023. 01-10 DOI: 10.33687/jsas.011.01.4408 2 structure of the state. In Pakistan, elite political culture is not the product of the 21st century but its roots can be easily traced to the start of European orientalism in British India. Generally, elite political culture in the subcontinent is referred to as feudalism (Chauhan, 2004: 01); however, social sciences academia does not assume feudalism as the sole segment within the elitism but numerous other political and non-political segments are included in it that have power relationships for influencing policy initiatives, democratic elections and economic lifestyle (Leichtman, 2001: 02) This study analyzes whether the elite political culture in Pakistan during 2008-2018 depicted democratic liberalism and it facilitated cosmopolitanism or not. As the respective period covers the constitutional shift from the 17th amendment to the 18th amendment in the Constitution of Pakistan 1973, this change provides a logical and rational ground to examine the democratic transition from Musharraf’s military regime. Likewise, this shift also makes the study able to comparatively analyze PPP and PML (N) regimes under the theoretical framework of elitism. This study also analyses the role and behavior of elites either in government or in opposition. This research is qualitative in nature and secondary sources are used. ELITISM OR ELITE POLITICAL CULTURE Elitism or elite political culture exhibits superiority, exclusiveness, and selectivity within the context of political and state systems. Whether elites belong to political, feudal, or business classes but they perform as unified. On the other hand, all the other non-elite segments are powerless and diverse; can only be influenced by the elite class directly or indirectly. Marxists elite theorists consider democracy as a utopian folly within capitalism (Volpe, 2021: 02-03). Similarly, Vilfredo Pareto and Gaetano Mosca describe that elite political culture covers key political and economic institutions where authority and power exist (Mosca, 2017: 03-08). They think that the psychological aspect of elite political culture is the common belief of the people that elites have personal powerful financial resources, and they must be relying or dependent upon them (Mosca, 2017: 03-08). US sociologist C. Wright Mills claims that elitism always belongs to power groups within military, economic and political groups and these groups may not be unified but support each other for personal interests. Although, his book “The Power Elite” provides examples from the United States in this regard, but his theoretical framework has also been appreciated within the social sciences academia in other countries (Mills, 1956: 30). At the same time, Floyd Hunter argues that the elite class always defends its legality in terms of “representative democracy” because of the power relationship between clergy, politicians, and businessmen (Marquez, 1985: 01- 02). COSMOPOLITANISM Cosmopolitanism is only unveiled when all the social segments within any state perform as a single community. As a result, cosmopolitanism leads a state towards mutual experiences of cultural, ethnic, political, and religious expressions. According to Kwame Anthony Appiah, cosmopolitanism promotes mutual respect for each social segment within any state (Beck, 2014: 184). Therefore, cosmopolitanism is also called universalism by several scholars (Beck, 2014: 185). The connection between elitism and, cosmopolitanism is only justified within the social sciences academia when elite pluralists follow pragmatism and patriotism. Elitism always stimulates differences among masses just for the sake of fulfilling personal (socio-political and economic) interests within the weak states (Calhoun, 1993; Erdem, 2017; Kurjanska, 2018). Now this study unfolds the pages of history to understand whether the elite political culture in Pakistan facilitated or currently assist the promotion of cosmopolitanism or not. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF ELITE POLITICAL CULTURE IN PAKISTAN WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF COSMOPOLITANISM Pakistan inherited elite political culture from the folds of British India. Not only was the leading leadership of the All-India Muslim League but the majority of politicians from the Unionist Party had also feudal background. Their socio-political and economic differences had also negatively affected the mainstream politics of Pakistan (Maniruzzaman, 1971: 02-03). From 1947 to 1958, almost 14 fractions emerged from the seeds of the Muslim League, and all were led by elites either from East Pakistan or West Pakistan. Frequent changes in prime ministership during the respective era were a clear indication of a clash of interests among those elites which led the country towards political anarchy and eventually towards the disintegration of both wings of Pakistan. J. S. Asian Stud. 11 (01) 2023. 01-10 DOI: 10.33687/jsas.011.01.4408 3 This era also triggered the cultural, economic, linguistic, social, and political differences among the masses, which can be observed by looking at the results of the elections of provincial assemblies of Punjab and NWFP on March 10-20, 1951, and December 08, 1951, respectively. Elite political leadership in both provinces did not campaign the ensuring patriotism, the state’s solidarity, and cohesion, but their focus was only to get a victory within the constituency from where they were contesting (Maniruzzaman, 1971: 04-06). Similarly, provincial elections in East Pakistan wiped out the Muslim League from the electoral landscape and the United Front (an alliance of regional political parties, based upon Bengali nationalism) got a huge victory on the bases of stimulating cultural, economic, linguistic, political and social differences from the people of West Pakistan. Political elites (especially feudal, industrialists, and businessmen) of East Pakistan triggered anti-West Pakistan feelings among the masses primarily based on the Bengali language and uneven development which resulted in the widened gulf between both the wings of the country. The Declaration of One Unit Policy was also criticized by the political leadership of East Pakistan. They took it as a centralization of power by the western province to control the economic and political rights of Bengalis by portraying artificial political egalitarianism. The political situation of the country became deteriorated and finally, the first Martial law was imposed by C-in-C General Muhammad Ayub in October 1958. He also said that the prime motive of his takeover is to eliminate the differences between East and West Pakistan generated by the elite political leadership of both wings (Gupta, 1963: 11-12). This is a universal phenomenon that a military regime in any country emboldens some selfish politicians to support martial law just for becoming beneficiaries within the coming political system under military patronage. The same happened when Ayub Khan took over the power and Various politicians from East and West Pakistan not only welcomed him but announced their full support for his newly crafted constitution and political system. Ayub Khan introduced the Basic Democracies System and claimed that the BD system would strengthen grass root level democracy in Pakistan and eliminate the sense of deprivation among marginalized and deprived regions and segments of society. Some scholars from social sciences academia like Maya Tudor (2013), Aqil Shah (2014), Christophe Jaffrelot (2016), and Niloufer Siddique, Sahar Shafqat and Mariam Mufti (2020) trace the basic purpose behind inaugurating ‘Basic Democracy’ system (by restructuring centuries-old existing Panchayat system in Bengal) as to promote cosmopolitanism in both wings (Mufti, Shafqat, & Siddiqui, 2020: 01-20) but actually, it did not happen. Similarly, another aim to launch ‘Direct Democracy’ was hailed as providing urgent solutions to the problems of the masses at their local level. Therefore, this system was highly appreciated by some of the elites as well as nonelite segments in the state. However, respective 80,000 Basic Democrats were declared as the Electoral College for a presidential election, which was criticized by the majority of political elites of East Pakistan and West Pakistan and, the streets of Lahore and Karachi, and Dhaka also exhibited protests against Ayub Khan. Besides massive support for Fatima Jinnah against Ayub Khan during the Presidential elections, he was claimed to be victorious by getting 64% votes while, the international media declared the respective election against international democratic standards (Tudor, 2013: 215-220; Shah, 2014; 72-93; Jaffrelot, 2016: 269- 277). As this election resulted in political chaos, particularly in East Pakistan where Sheikh Mujeeb-ur-Rehman was demanding maximum autonomy under his Six Points formula. This situation divided the elite and non-elite segments of East and West Pakistan more than previously. The ruling elites of West Pakistan were blaming the political elite of East Pakistan as traitors while politicians of East Pakistan blamed military leadership as well as politicians of Punjab as the exploiters of their fundamental rights. When Ayub Khan could not handle the mass movement he resigned and handed over the power to General Yahya Khan (Hasina, 2019: 119-124). After assuming power, Yahya Khan announced the Legal Framework Order (LFO) that led to the restoration of the provincial structure by merging princely states into the provinces (excluded states of Hunza and Nagar) and called the first general elections in the country. Elite and non-elite segments of both wings welcomed this decision and started their campaigns. As Awami League contested this election on the bases of Six Points while, Pakistan Peoples’ Party initiated its campaign within the framework of Islamic Socialism (interpreted by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto); both parties got 160/300 and 81/300 seats J. S. Asian Stud. 11 (01) 2023. 01-10 DOI: 10.33687/jsas.011.01.4408 4 in National Assembly respectively (Hasina, 2019: 124- 125). Post-election 1970 situation even proved worse as a dispute erupted between the top leadership of PPP the largest part of Punjab and Sind and, the Awami League which secured an absolute majority in the Eastern wing of Pakistan. Usually, elections bring harmony and consensus in a democratic setup, but the political elites of Pakistan were not in a compromising mood which resulted in the disintegration of the country and Bangladesh emerged as a separate country on the earth map (Hasina, 2019: 126-131). The government of the Pakistan Peoples' Party established under the premiership of Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto formulated a new Constitution of Pakistan in 1973, announced political and economic reforms, and tried to establish Pakistan’s cordial and bilateral relations with other countries but unfortunately could not create political harmony with the elites of political parties in NWFP and Balochistan. Bhutto targeted the provincial governments of NWFP and Balochistan where the National Awami Party and Jamiat Ulma-e- Islam were in coalition with each other. The dictatorial attitude of Mr. Bhutto with the support of feudal elites of Punjab and Sindh caused massive agitation against his rule in entire Pakistan and his political rift with the politicians of NWFP and Balochistan led the country towards another third martial law which was imposed by C-in C General Zia-ul-Haq in October 1977. General Zia ul Haq abrogated the Constitution, banned political parties, and introduced his kind of reforms. Although, Zia’s rule facilitated the emergence of new ruling elites on the political spectrum of Pakistan, but his initiative for non-parties elections in 1985 has been considered an attempt to trigger ethnic conflicts in the country (Hussain, 2000: 183-202). The post-Zia period is considered an era of democratic transition that witnessed the dismissal of four elected governments of PPP and PML. These four elections were held on a party basis, but despite that, no civilian government could complete its five-year term. The concept of cosmopolitanism got strength when Pervez Musharraf announced the devolution of the Power Plan. These local bodies’ elections were on non-party bases (Kamran, 2012: 15-16) and this policy initiative, on one side, generated new political and nonpolitical elites, but on another side, the formation of groups with the representation of each caste, language, and religion/sect regarding contesting elections at the local level. And this practice reduced socio-political and ethnic differences among masses in such a way that each elite leader within the towns, tehsils, and districts to be engaged with other elite and non-elite segments for the survival of his/her political career. According to distinct reports published by UNESCO, this initiative led the complex society of Pakistan towards ensuring cosmopolitanism where not only the illogicalities, paradoxes, and divergences among castes in South Punjab and Sindh were undermined but differences on the bases of tribal histories in Balochistan and NWFP were also dented (Kamran, 2012: 16). Furthermore, state-centrism within the 17th amendment of the Constitution of Pakistan 1973 also ensures cosmopolitanism by reducing provincial autonomy. Center-Punjab tussles during Benazir regimes and center-Sindh wrangles during Nawaz regimes had enthused to engineer such a constitutional draft that could discourage biased provincialism by introducing tight federalism. Moreover, the military establishment also formed a law under the respective constitutional amendment that only a graduate candidate can contest the election for a provincial or national assembly. The prime motive behind establishing the ‘First Graduate Legislature’ was also to install such legislative organs of the state that should have no concern with provincialism, racism, ethnicities, or religiosities but only to work for the solidarity and stability of the state under the strict state-centrism. According to Sumita Kumar (2001), Rathnam Indurthy (2004), Hina Altaf (2019), and Hassan Javid (2019); as the Devolution of Power Plan introduced a new political and nonpolitical elite across the country, the first graduate legislature also ousted several heredity politicians by replacing new ones. And this shift in elite political culture facilitates the promotion of cosmopolitanism more than the initial stage (prepresidential election phase; from May 01, 1959, to 1964) of launching the system of Basic Democracy by Ayub Khan (Indurthy, 2004; Kumar, 2001; Altaf, 2019; Javid, 2019). However, the connection between elite political culture with cosmopolitanism once again suffered from variations since the general elections in 2008. Therefore, the study now explores whether connectivity between respective patterns remained to exist or gradually weak from 2008 to 2018. DEMOCRATIC ELITISM AND COSMOPOLITANISM DURING 2008-2013 The democratic transition phase of 2008-2013 can be J. S. Asian Stud. 11 (01) 2023. 01-10 DOI: 10.33687/jsas.011.01.4408 5 divided into two sub-phases where the first phase started from the inauguration of PPP’s third government to the end of district governments under the Devolution of Power Plan.Pakistani politics is heavily influenced by the elite and their participation in political processes. So, the dynamics of politics that we have in the country are elitist in nature. Creating equal opportunities for all and making politics an accessible entity for the common man is the need of the hour to get rid of this elite politics. The common man must be enabled to see politics as his career and not as something distant and remote from his reality. For this reason, devolution of power to the local level/governance is crucial. On the other hand, the second sub-phase covers the post-18th amendment period. As the first part of this phase covers a period of democratic transition under the shelter of the 17th amendment along with numerous other ordinances imposed by the presidential office under military patronage, the relationship between elite political culture, and cosmopolitanism was continuously sustained until the reversal of graduation’s condition1, 17th amendment,2 and Devolution of Power Plan 20003. Hence, the study now evaluates the respective era in this regard. DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL SYSTEM UNDER THE IMPACTS OF 17TH AMENDMENT AND MUSHARRAF’S PRESIDENTIAL ORDINANCES Critics trace the results of the general elections in 2008 as the product of reconciliation between President Pervez Musharraf and the Pakistan Peoples' Party. Although, Pervez Musharraf several times claimed that his favored political party PML(Q) got the highest votes but candidature ratio in the National Assembly was exhibiting the victory of the Pakistan People's Party as the leading political party in Pakistan. From 2002-2007, 1 Pervez Musharraf imposed the condition of graduation of contesting elections either for the national assembly, senate or any provincial assembly by amending article 8 (A) of the Conduct of General Election Order in 2002 as the ‘Chief Executive's Order no 7 of 2002’. However, Supreme Court under Iftikhar Chaudhary abolished this condition as a clear violation of fundamental human rights in April 2008 (Hameed, 2008). 2 17th amendment in the Constitution of Pakistan 1973 was revered since the signature of President Asif Ali Zardari on the approved draft of 18th amendment at April 19, 2010 (Malik & Rana, 2019). this parliament was also the graduate parliament. Therefore, it facilitated the educated class (even numerous educated politicians formerly involved in electoral politics) to represent their constituencies. Moreover, several tehsils and district nazims/mayors (who were graduates) were also participated in this election, and they introduced themselves as the newly emerged political elites (Kamran, 2012: 31-34). However, the court verdict under Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary abolished the condition of graduation in April 2008, declaring this condition as a violation of fundamental human rights. This verdict motivated heredity conservative or traditional politicians (usually rural feudal elites in South Punjab and Sindh, Sardars/Nawabs, and tribal chiefs in Balochistan, KPK, and tribal areas) to contest bielections (Husain, 2018: 211-219). As newly emerged elites were considered fruitful for cosmopolitanism during the Musharraf regime, and they had acquired a slogan “Pakistan First” or “Sab Se Pehle Pakistan”, this tendency was reversed by the participation of conservative or traditional heredity feudal elites in electoral politics. And they participated on the bases of raising slogans related to language, sect, racism, or provincialism (Husain, 2018: 219-220). According to Marinos Diamantides and Adam Gearey (2011), the prime motive of raising the slogan of “Pakistan First” was to unite the country to ensure cosmopolitanism in the broader framework of “globalism” rather than to follow orthodox pan-Islamism. Musharraf had realized that the national strength was now no more in following religious or sectarian identities rather these were dividing the nation more than the linguistic, cultural, or ethnic differences and people through their representatives can lead the country towards solidarity and stability by only carrying 3 Although, the local government ordinance was expired in 2009, but district governments continued their working till October 06, 2010. As 18th amendment declared that the ‘local government’ is now the subject of provincial governments, Balochistan Assembly was the first to introduce its Local Government Act in 2010. On the other hand, Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies passed their local government acts in 2013. However, critics find lot of similarities among Devolution of Power Plan 2000 and the currently local government acts of KPK and Balochistan (Malik & Rana, 2019). J. S. Asian Stud. 11 (01) 2023. 01-10 DOI: 10.33687/jsas.011.01.4408 6 enlightened modernization within the framework of openness, acceptance of western cultural norms, and revolt against taboos (Diamantides & Gearey, 2011). On the other hand, although Sara Ahmed and Fatima Sajjad (2019) criticized “Pakistan First”, they admit that the concept of enlightened modernization was introduced for decreasing religious/sectarian differences by modernization of clergy(Ahmed & Sajjad, 2019). Because of lawlessness and terrorism, Musharraf planned to restore solidarity and stability in Pakistan by installing patriotic and pragmatic sentiments among the masses. And he assumed the slogan of “Pakistan First” as the tool of undermining all the domestic differences affecting cosmopolitanism in the state (Ahmed & Sajjad, 2019). After the resignation of Pervez Musharraf, when Asif Ali Zardari took the presidential office, a wave of strict provincialism started across the country. On demanding greater provincial autonomy, all the major political parties in the parliament (including PPP PMLN, and ANP) had been united, and they were seeking constitutional. 4 By the 18th amendment in the Constitution; • Education (including school education, higher education, and special education) became the provincial subject while the Ministry of Education at the federal level was renamed as “Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training”. • Ministry of Archaeology and Culture was renamed as the “Ministry of Culture” and delivered completely to provinces. • Ministry of environment was renamed as the “Ministry of Climate Change” while, it is dealing with provinces in their territorial jurisdiction whereas the federal government also looks after environmental affairs within the capital territory along with national administrative areas. • Ministry of health was renamed as the “Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination”, and became the provincial subject. • Ministry of special initiatives closed down as a federal subject. • Ministry of labor and manpower was renamed as the “Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis & Human Resource Development”. However, it is still a federal subject. In contrast, provinces are authorized to deal with issues. amendments for preserving their cultural, ethnic, and provincial identities. On April 19, 2010, the 18th amendment in the Constitution of Pakistan 1973 was implemented by the signature of President Asif Ali Zardari, and it was the day considering the reemergence of former traditional elitism with boosting strict provincialism and loose federalism. By respective amendment, local governments have also been declared as the provincial subject along with 14 other ministries4. However, district governments under the second phase of the Devolution Plan were still working across the country at that time, and newly emerged political elites by this system were following the same ideology as they had been committed to at the time of their oath-taking. According to analysts, the impacts of “Pakistan First” were almost abolished from the political surface of Pakistan on October 06, 2010, when the tenure of district governments was ended (Malik & Rana, 2019). As per the critical analysis of Muhammad Faisal (2013), the 18th amendment is the start of inaugurating a loose federation within an ethnically and culturally diverse society like related to labor by the labor department and industries department by appointing provincial minister(s) for labor and industries. • Provinces have been authorized to design their own local government act as they feel suitable for their need. • Ministry of minorities’ affairs has been amalgamated with the Ministry of Religious Affairs. However, this ministry has been exhibiting at federal and provincial levels separately while affairs related to Hajj is only the subject of the federal ministry of religious affairs. • Ministry of population welfare, Ministry of social welfare and special education, Ministry of women development, Ministry of youth affairs, and Ministry of Zakat and Ushr have been closed down as the federal subject, delivered entirely to the provinces. • Ministry of sports was renamed the “Pakistan Sports Board” (PSB) at the federal level while; provinces have also been authorized to appoint their ministers for sports, but they have to work in collaboration with PSB. • Powers of the Ministry of tourism have been handed over to Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation. However, tourism has also been the subject of provinces too (Faisal & Bukhari, 2013). J. S. Asian Stud. 11 (01) 2023. 01-10 DOI: 10.33687/jsas.011.01.4408 7 Pakistan with weak democratic culture (Faisal & Bukhari, 2013). POST-18TH AMENDMENT ERA, ELITISM AND, COSMOPOLITANISM Post-18th amendment era can further be divided into two tenures, one led by Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani and, the second governed by Raja Pervez Ashraf. However, both premiers faced problems caused by multiple factors and one of them was the role played by the elite class which undermined cosmopolitanism, and state as a whole again experienced polarized politics, distrust over institutions, political participation without populism, the dysfunctionality of parliament regarding legislation in public welfare and dynastic politics. As all the respective experiences are generally considered as the major contributor to problematics of democracy within any society, but the study looks at the role of elites in politics in Pakistan after the 18th amendment. Yousaf Raza Gillani Regime Assessment of correlation between elite political culture and political system since the 18th amendment not only indicates its impact on cosmopolitanism but highlights its role in promoting or demoting liberal democracy in Pakistan5. Thus, findings related to the stated problem are presented below; The dynastic political leadership of PPP, PML (N), and ANP (projecting provincialism rather than ensuring state-centrism) claimed themselves to the victorious for the beginning of true parliamentary democracy in Pakistan. However, their ethnolinguistic identities proved the main problematics for the democratization process in Pakistan where they claimed their developmental projects as an example of “good governance” separately within their provincial jurisdictions. This was an effort to boost the morale of the masses by offering them more economic opportunities through the China Pakistan Economic Corridor and by taking more policy measures. However, China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Swat Operation at 5 Assessment is based upon the survey conducted by the scholar where 15 questions were asked to the interviewees that helps the study to trace out the impacts of elite political culture on liberal democracy in Pakistan (with different aspects). the national level were the two significant initiatives, at which, PPP was claiming to be the cosmopolitan political party of the federation (Sabharwal & Berman, 2016: 438). Although military elites have some reservations over provincial autonomy and CPEC projects, Zardari-Kiyani coordination never indicated any major fissure between civil-military leadership (Sabharwal & Berman, 2016: 439). Cosmopolitanism was thought to promote a harmonious relationship between provinces. The theme of cosmopolitanism had been considered as direct proportional to provincialism now where provincial political elites claimed that greater provincial autonomy in the 18th amendment has facilitated all the four provinces to function together within the political structure of Pakistan defined in the Constitution of 1973 (Sabharwal & Berman, 2016: 442). But Supporters of democracy within the civil society had been hopeless because local governments were declared a provincial subject in the 18th amendment (Sabharwal & Berman, 2016: 442). Raja Pervaiz Ashraf Regime This regime practiced the same attributes as had been exhibited during Gillani-Zardari’s tenure. However, like the Gillani government, this tenure also experienced religious politics of Pakistan Awami Tehreek against federal and provincial governments. However, the statecentric leadership of PMLQ) assisted the PPP government and tackled this matter through negotiations (Chak, 2014: xxii). It was an impact of the AghazHaqooq-e-Balochistan Package that a 2012 survey by Gallup indicated the rising of cosmopolitanism in Balochistan province. As per this survey, 63% of the total Baloch population and 88% of the total Pashtun population of the province showed their commitment and support for Pakistan and this percentage was much high than the Musharraf regime (Chak, 2014, xxii). However, the absence of local governments in this regime created distrust of civil society in provincial assemblies regarding maintaining liberal democratic norms in Pakistan that can only be glorified when a new J. S. Asian Stud. 11 (01) 2023. 01-10 DOI: 10.33687/jsas.011.01.4408 8 political elite emerges from the grassroots level(Chak, 2014, p. xxii). PML(N) Regime (2013-2018) Although, this regime consists of three tenures; NawazZardari tenure, Nawaz-Mamnoon tenure, and AbbasiMamnoon tenure, but political elitism was observed dominant during this period as it had been exhibited during 2008-2013. Throughout Nawaz Sharif’s third tenure from June 05, 2013, to till the presidency of Asif Ali Zardari dated September 09, 2013; the provincial elites of Punjab and Sindh coordinated with each other without projecting any kind of provincialism, political biasness, or parochialism (Mufti, Shafqat, & Siddiqui, 2020: 235) which facilitated cosmopolitanism, however, during NawazMamnoon and Abbasi-Mamnoon tenures, study finds some distinct events which are described below; Nawaz-Mamnoon Tenure Democracy is politics of compromises, but the period of Nawaz -Mamnoon period Polarized the politics and, provincialism was once again triggered and three different parties PPP, PML (N) and PTI were ruling in Sindh, Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa respectively. • During the Nawaz regime, the civil-military relationship was apparently in good shape when parliament legislated the National Action Plan and allowed military leadership to initiate Operation Zarbe-Azb across the country. However, few PML(N) leaders criticized National Action Plan because of one of its clauses describing “economic terrorism” as the corruption or misconduct performed by politicians or bureaucracy(Mufti, Shafqat, & Siddiqui, 2020, pp. 235- 252). PML (N) leadership tried to trace military patronage behind PTI 126 days of sit-in in Islamabad against Nawaz Government, which showed mistrust over the army as the state institution (Mufti, Shafqat, & Siddiqui, 2020: 235-252). • This tenure also reflected dynastic politics in entire Pakistan; mainly within the circles of PML(N) and PPP (Mufti, Shafqat, & Siddiqui, 2020: 235-252). Although local government elections were conducted under the newly introduced local government acts by the provinces, their legal patterns in Punjab and Sindh had allowed district governments to be the puppets of provincial chief ministers. The absence of direct democracy along with politico-economic autonomy had wiped out the public trust in their representatives but, they were still dependent upon looking the provincial authorities stationed in regional capitals (Mufti, Shafqat, & Siddiqui, 2020: 235-252). • As this regime claimed to be social centrism, the major contribution of this government was to introduce the Protection of Women against Violence Bill 2015 which acquired massive recognition across the country (Mufti, Shafqat, & Siddiqui, 2020: 235-252). • In January 2016, PML(N) tried to ban Tableeghi Jamat in Punjab, which triggered religious politicians against federal and provincial governments. At that time, PML(Q) supported Tableeghi Jamat while JUI(F) remained silent (even following the same religious ideology) because of taking part in the federal government. However, massive protests coerced PML(N) not to do that(Mufti, Shafqat, & Siddiqui, 2020: 235-252). • According to World Bank Group’s president Jim Yong Kim, cosmopolitanism in Pakistan has been widely promoted because of trade liberalization, economic policies, and CPEC projects. Expansion of the roads network in Pakistan not only associated developing areas with developed cities but it contacted provinces by inaugurating new trade hubs (Mufti, Shafqat, & Siddiqui, 2020: 235-252). • However, political elitism was still a major hurdle in sustaining a liberal democratic culture where a cartel of ruling and feudal elites had monopolized local, provincial and federal political systems (Mufti, Shafqat, & Siddiqui, 2020: 235-252). Abbasi-Mamnoon Tenure The disqualification of Nawaz Sharif became the reason for Abbasi’s premiership. However, this tenure did not reflect the anti-establishment campaign. On the other hand, Nawaz Sharif and some of his closest ideologists still blaming the military leadership behind the Panama scandal and the Supreme Court’s verdict against Nawaz’s premiership as the biggest support to PTI. However, the cabinet of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was also reflecting elite political culture within the parliamentary democracy in Pakistan as he always considered himself bound to consult with Nawaz Sharif for each policy initiative (Mufti, Shafqat, & Siddiqui, 2020: 252). Moreover, the major achievement of this tenure was the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) reforms bill that availed nationwide recognition, and each political party welcomed this initiative (Mufti, Shafqat, & Siddiqui, 2020: 252). J. S. Asian Stud. 11 (01) 2023. 01-10 DOI: 10.33687/jsas.011.01.4408 9 CONCLUSION In academic debates, it has been examined that there are several events and legislations within the post-18th amendment political system of Pakistan that facilitated cosmopolitanism even existing alongside polarized politics on the bases of provincialism, somewhat distrust over institutions, blaming dysfunctionality of parliament, and dynastic politics. These are the Aghaz HaqooqeBalochistan Package, CPEC, flexibilities for recruitment in armed forces, Swat Operation, National Action Plan, Zarb-e-Azb, Protection of Women against Violence Bill, and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) Reforms Bill. Nationwide recognition of respective initiatives not only facilitated the promotion of liberal democracy in Pakistan but encouraged political elites to work for public welfare in coordination with other state institutions and related agencies/departments. This coordination would have overcome or resolved the problematics of democracy in Pakistan along with sustaining nationalism and patriotism.

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Elite Political Culture as Problematic for Liberal Democracy in Pakistan: A Critical Study

 Elite Political Culture as Problematic for Liberal Democracy in Pakistan: A Critical Study aMohammad Ashfaq*, aYasmin Roofi aDepartment of Political Science, The Islamia University Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan. *Corresponding Author Email ID: mohammad_ashfaq@hotmail.com A B S T R A C T The elite political culture of Pakistan is comparatively feudalistic in nature as the base of power in the state. Political culture may be defined as how many people participate in the political procedure. It is a system of beliefs upon which a large majority of people agree. The history of the political culture of Pakistan has witnessed the domination of multiple elite groups. These major elites had influences on the political system. Gaetano Mosca, the founder of the Italian school of elitism enumerated the personal traits of these ruling elites, operating centrally as direct power holders of the body politics, The purpose of this research is to critically study the elite political culture and problematics created by this group for liberal democracy. This research will present the concept of elite political culture and how it emerged in the politics of Pakistan. It will also conclude that how elite political culture distorted or eclipsed specifically the smooth functioning of the liberal democratic political system of the state and society in general. For the completion of the proposed study, both primary, as well as secondary sources, have been used. While undertaking any research a peculiar methodology is applied to obtain the objectives of the study. Historical, narrative, descriptive, analytical and conceptual research methodology is applied. This is a descriptive analysis of elitism and presents this concept through different authors who treated this subject in different manners. Keywords: Elite political culture, Political System of Pakistan, Liberal Democracy, Problematics, Landlords. INTRODUCTION In the world of the 21ist century, there is a deep-down disconnect in the theory and practice of democracy and it is replete with daunting complexities. The firm belief in the core values of democracy is startling, yet faith in empirical application in democratic dispensation remains elusive. Democratic engagement is followed through a faulty electoral process of settled, constant, and consistent preferences. These preferences are endogenous variables well embedded in the social system of third-world countries. Democratic values are facing erosion everywhere in the world. The answer to the problems of democracy is not less democracy but more democracy. Each model of democracy is connected with a practical set of principles of explanation, essential characteristics, and prevalent conditions. This paper is an effort to focus on the elite political culture of Pakistan and the role of feudal lords to make it impractical and serve their own vested interests by distorting the already weak democratic values and making the state institutions less responsive to address the socioeconomic and political issues of the people. The problematics of political polarization, elites and masses disconnect, rising economic inequalities will also be discussed. ELITISM OR ELITE POLITICAL CULTURE Elite political culture is the oldest theory of the world. It was developed at that time when the social concept of advancement was changed. Political culture may well define how people take part and how much they participate in political development. Political culture is a system of belief on which a great majority of the population agrees on it. Political culture also describes the nature of government and people's roles in government. Political culture “tries to explain that why J. S. Asian Stud. 09 (03) 2021. 235-241 DOI: 10.33687/jsas.009.03.3929 236 people behave the way they do in terms not so much of their explicit desires, but rather in terms of what they believe about what government should be like and how it should be run" ."Every nation and country of the world has its own political culture which comprises a set of beliefs, moral values, and customs. Political culture discusses the “attitude towards the political system and its various parts, and attitudes towards the self in the system.” The political culture of a country or nation is the specific scattering patterns of alignment towards political concerns between the member of the country or nation (Girvetz, 1967: 40). Political culture is a powerful political concept of political science. Gabriel Almond (1956) Almond and Verba (1963) said "it is to be an interaction between the persons affiliated with and groups linked to the internal political system of a country”. It is defined as the traditional behavior of a nation's masses towards politics that affects their political legitimacy. Generally, it describes the behavior of a nation towards its national interest and politics. This political philosophy contains political beliefs and perceptions of a nation. It is a unique political culture of a people, state, or nation. Actual political cultures are one of the basic necessities that required achieving democratic rules (Haq, 2010). If the political culture of Pakistan has to observe, it is very difficult to define it. Pakistan is a multi-cultural country with multi-linguistic multi-ethnic demography which is further divided into rural and urban areas. In the rural areas, the caste legacy played important role in the political system. In the perspective of Pakistan after independence, they introduced a Parliamentary democracy and the political elites played a significant and dominant role in shaping the political system (Kuper, 1987: 61) This political culture has greatly impacted the state, society and marginalized the masses. Which resultantly further distorted the social fabric of Pakistan. ELITES THEIR ROLE AND BEHAVIOUR IN THE POLITICAL SYSTEM OF PAKISTAN The word elite was a French word that was derived from the Latin word “eligere”. It was refer to a small group of people that have powerful status, authority, and superior in the society (Akhtar, 2014). The word Elite had been used to define the commodities and particularly excelled in the 17th century. After this, it was used for a special higher group of people who were belonged to military and noble’s classes. This term was applied as a social group in the 18th century in Oxford English Dictionary (Parry, 1977: 15). The elite theory was derived from the two sociologists Vilfredo Pareto and Gaetano Mosca. According to Pareto, the people are different physically as well as mentally in society and some people are blessed with more than others, who are called elites (Bottomore, 1964, pp. 7,49). He defined the elite as “a class of the people who have the highest indices in their branch of activity, and to that class given the name of the elite” (Coser, 1977, p. 397). C. Wright Mills describes elites as “those economic, political and military circles, which as an intricate set of overlapping small but dominant groups share decisions having at least national consequence. In so far as national events are decided, the power elite is those who decided them (Martin Gilens, 2014). In simple words, the Elite is a superior and higher intellectual group of people who played a leading role in society. The elite class studies in well-known educational institutions of the world (Hashmat, 2018). Their education helps them to maintain their powers. Though Elite class is present and has their influence and significant role almost in all the societies of the world. In Pakistan, the word elite refers to “a specific group that is part of government and administration has a strong character in the history of Pakistan. It imposed the greatest strain on the political system when it developed along ethnic lines. They are mostly belonging to landlords’ families that existed during the British period. The major landowning elite group led to the ethnicization of political forces of the NWFP and Baluchistan on one side, Sind and Punjab on the other (Hussain, 1979). “However, over the years this began to change with the state civil and military bureaucracy getting integrated into the elite and also using state resources to create other elite groups” (Siddiqa, 2012). The powerful elites in Pakistan easily receive control and dominate the society but the evolution of elites is related to the ability of power. The middle class and lower middle class also get an elite position in politics like Altaf Hussain, Tahir-ul-Qadri is the best example of this elite group (Hashmat, 2018). Asif Hussain divided the elites’ class into three groups. These three groups are ‘traditional, colonial, and emergent. The traditional group belonged to the period of Muslim rule, colonial to the period of British rule (1857-1947) and emergent elites were those that become politically active in the J. S. Asian Stud. 09 (03) 2021. 235-241 DOI: 10.33687/jsas.009.03.3929 237 post-1947 period” (Rizvi, 2015: 55). Each elite group was continually engaged in mobilizing its resources to transform the state to safeguard its vested interests. With such transformations in mind, each regime emphasized some ideology to legitimize their systems” (Rizvi, 2015). Political elites are very powerful people which hold most of the power in politics than the common people. Political elites had leading positions and use power in the political system (Hussain, 1979: 34-35). These elites became the central part of the cabinet of the Pakistan government. Saeed Shafqat mentioned five kinds of elites “military elites, bureaucratic elites, industrial elites, political elites, and religious elites. Some elite groups such as military, bureaucracy, and industrial are dominant over other elite groups (Shafqat, 1997: 24). According to Saeed Shafqat, “Political elites, who led the nationalist movement which had a high mobilization capacity they inherited weak or almost non–existent political institutions”. “In the absence of political institutions, they fell on bureaucracy. On the other hand, the Muslims–merchant class who provided the initial finance for the Pakistan movement and also migrated to Pakistan emerged as an important coalitional component” (Shafqat, 1997: 26-27). He further stated “In 1958 when the military acted to resolve the crisis and then a new ruling coalition was evolved. This change of regime meant defining new rules which were EBDO changed the role of the political elite and with that new farmers and new industrial commercial-industrial class appeared. Bureaucratic and military elites were dominant in this period and during the 1970 election, the nature and role of Islam were encouraged as an ideological component. It was under such an environment that Z.A. Bhutto (1971-77) had to formulate a ruling coalition and rejuvenate the structural components of Pakistan's political system” (Shafqat, 1997: 29-30,36). "Pakistan People Party (PPP) “which was an umbrella organization, representing interests of feudal, middle class, intelligentsia, students and labor.” It also had sympathizers in the military and bureaucracy. However political elite who dominated the decision-making had social origins in the feudal and urban middle class” (Shafqat, 1997: 36). (LaPorte, 1975: 1) dividing the Pakistani people into four groups. These are the modern ruling elite, educated middle class, students, and provincial rural and urban dwellers. The modern ruling elite is known as military officers, Civil service officers, and top businessmen. Dr. Farzana Rizvi criticized the describing groups of Robert La Port (Rizvi, 2015: 57). She further states “There are three major but overlapping elite groups in Pakistan: Political, Economic and Social.” These elite groups in Pakistan are military officers, civil service officers, Industrial, religious, professional and landowning families” (Rizvi, 2015: 59). The military elites are the dominant group in the political culture of Pakistan. In Pakistan common people have no knowledge of politics, they believe in strong military power due to weak political institutions and lack of capable political leadership after the demise of Quaid-e-Azam. After independence in 1947 conflicts started with India such as the Kashmir issue and water dispute, which dictates to establish a powerful Army. Furthermore, Political parties like Muslim League and political institutions rapidly declined. In this situation, military elites gained a dominant position in Pakistan. Samuel Edward Finer describes three reasons which make the military superior. It has three enormous political advantages over civil institutions; control over arms, and extremely emotionalized symbolic status and marked superiority in the organization” (Finer., 1962: 5) Inflexible military training and massive defense budget improved the professional character and status of the Army. Civilian power weakened day by day which ultimately led to military power and General Ayub dismisses Iskander Mirza on 7th October 1958. It was the time of the first Martial Law in Pakistan. The second Martial law came with General Yahya Khan on 25th March 1969. He was resigned after the debacle of East Pakistan now Bangladesh on 16th December 1971 (Zaheer., 1994: 78). On 5th July 1977, General Zia-ul-Haq enforced the third Martial Law and discharged the popular civilian government of Pakistan People’s Party. General Zia-ulHaq announced, “He will hold free, fair and transparent polls in October 1977 and will shift authority to the democratic government” but he Kept suspended elections for Eight years. He died in an airplane crash on 17th August 1988 and democracy was restored again in Pakistan. Unfortunately 12th October 1999 again the democratic government of Nawaz Sharief was suddenly ended by General Pervaiz Musharraf. Pakistan had come under Martial law for the fourth time in Pakistan's history. The army always gave the same reason every J. S. Asian Stud. 09 (03) 2021. 235-241 DOI: 10.33687/jsas.009.03.3929 238 time that they took over law and order has not been maintained properly and the economy is on verge of collapsing (Hashmat, 2018, p. 20). The military have always an effective role to play in the domestic and foreign affairs of the country even during the civilian rule” (Waqar, July 2012). Bureaucracy means people of high rank in the government, who pay them a vast amount as a salary. According to Khan “Bureaucracy means the grouping of bureaucrats, who include all government servants, accept those who are popularly elected” (Khan, 2006: 423). Max Weber explains that “well trained bureaucratic professionals prevail against the less expert ministers who run the administrative divisions, the cabinet which directs the state legislature which makes decisions and policies.” Bureaucracy has the actual power and commands of the administration of the state (Hashmat, 2018: 22). They contribute to all the key decisions related to the state such as administrative, security measures, foreign policy, and financial. Actually, they run all the business of government. They are mostly belonging to the well-known landowning and elite families of the country. The political system of Pakistan is replete with rampant corruption, nepotism, favoritism, and red-tapism. The power and influence of bureaucratic elites are increasing day by day. In Pakistan, these bureaucrats are the real depiction of these predictions and guess. In Pakistan, bureaucrats have complete powers and authority which used for their own desires. “They obtain the task of consultant, specialists, advisers, policymakers, and policy executers. In Pakistan bureaucracy is very much powerful, because Pakistan inherited an iron steel bureaucracy from our colonial masters who also led them to have an attitude of the ruler” (Kalia, 2013). The industrial revolution started during the era of General Ayub Khan had supported the twenty-two families for business and industry. Almost these families owned 80 percent of the economy, industry, and business of the country which resulted in the formulation of industrial elites. In Pakistan, the role of Industrial elites is not satisfactory. They abuse poor labor and only give them sustenance wages. They don’t even pay taxes and they hoard goods. They pressurize the government for their personal benefits by forming economic cartels. These industrial elites and crony capitalism, use their money in different political parties which allow them to influence the government policies (Hashmat, 2018: 24). Pakistan is an Islamic republican state and has many types of religious elites. They morally and spiritually guide Muslim society. They lead Muslims at the time of several religious rituals and festivals. Religious elites played a very important role in Pakistani Islamic society. The religious groups were present in Pakistan at the time of Independence and have an influence on society but have no effective presence in the National and Provisional Assembly. Religious elites appeared as a powerful group during the Zia-ul-Haq period of Islamization and Afghan Jihad. The number of Madrassas increased ran by different religious groups. Madrassas, where religious education was given but extremism, was also taught at some Madrasses, so it has become controversial and there are some concerns of the international community (Butt, 2012: 393). Some religious groups like the Taliban and Al-Qaeda were involved in terrorist activities against the state of Pakistan. They killed the masses, officials, businessmen, and political leaders by suicide attacks, bomb blasts, and target killing. They are also involved in kidnapping activities for ransom. These activities strained the reputation of Pakistan at the International level. Some other religious groups work by forming a party and taking part in elections and only a few votes are given to them but they exert great pressure on the government. These religious elites like Maulana Fazal Rahman, Tahiru ul-Qadri, and leaders of Jammat-e-Islami are working as pressure groups. They all have the street powers and use them to pressurize the elected governments to fulfill their personal benefits by Dharnas, Inqalab Long March, and the recent Azadi March launched by Fazalur Reman. These religious elites prefer Martial Laws instead of democratic governments because they cannot gain power through votes (Hashmat, 2018: 23). Judiciary is one of the most important parts of the state. People look to the judiciary for the assurance and guarantee of their fundamental rights and for justice. It protects the rights of citizens by stopping wrong actions of any individual or department. Supreme Court checks every executive decision and then approves them or checks them but the judiciary has always played a different role in Pakistan. Judicial elites firstly appeared in 1955 in Pakistan when chief justice M. Munir took a controversial decision. He supports the action of Governor-General Ghulam Mohammad when he dissolves the first Constitutional Assembly of Pakistan. J. S. Asian Stud. 09 (03) 2021. 235-241 DOI: 10.33687/jsas.009.03.3929 239 Chief Justice M. Munir stated that the Assembly was not a supreme body in the Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan case. This Chief Justice again supports President Iskander Mirza's action, dissolving the National Assembly and the 1956 constitution of Pakistan. The Supreme Court solidly permitted General Zia-ul-Haq to become a dictator and created the Doctrine of Necessity. Supreme Court rejected the appeal of Nusrat Bhutto that was against the arrest of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto under Martial Law. The bench of nine judges of the Supreme Court supported the Martial Law and called Martial Law a necessity owing to bad law and order situations and rigging in elections. Supreme Court refused to restore the government of Junejo in 1988, dismissed by General Zia-ul-Haq. President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismissed the Benazir Bhutto government in 1990 and Nawaz Sharif Government in 1993 and dissolved the National Assembly of Pakistan.Supreme Court declare the dissolving of Nawaz Sharif Government in 1993 unlawful action but when President Farooq Leghari dismissed Benazir Bhutto government in 1997 court supported this action. Supreme Court also provided shelter to the fourth Martial Law of General Pervaiz Musharraf in 1999. The courts always provided an umbrella for Martial Law or the military elite’s takeover of democratic governments of Pakistan. The courts had played an important role in abolishing the liberal democratic system in the state (Hashmat, 2018: 23-24). The people who have vast agricultural land are called landlords. They are owners of thousands of acres of land and present since the British Raj. People who supported the British East India Company received a vast amount of land as gifts. It created a group of the elite landlord that remained in power even after the independence in 1947 and still a big challenge for the political system of Pakistan. Their titles are Chaudhary, Sardar, Rajas, Malik, Nawab, Ranas, Shahas, and Nawabzadas. This powerful group, feudal lords affected every socioeconomic and political sector of the country because of their power, privilege, and position. Most of them study from abroad and after coming back they become part of executive posts of bureaucracy, Judiciary, military, and police. This nexus is difficult to break and affects the political system. They are present in every Parliament and every type of government of Pakistan (Hashmat, 2018: 20). All these political elite take part in politics and play a very important role in distorting the political culture. LIBERAL DEMOCRACY The word democracy is created from the demos that mean people, so well it turns into the rule of people. It is a kind of government in which the actual and supreme power belongs to the people and is applied by the elected representatives that are elected through a balloting system. Democracy is a system of governance and interest representation demands respect for conflict and opposition. It identifies the principle of majority rule and assurances protection of minorities. Democracy also builds faith in democratic contestation to gain public office and gives validity to political parties as primary instruments for the attainment and transfer of power from one set of individuals to another. In democracy people basically express their will and work with independence. According to Francis Fukuyama, "liberal democracy is more than majority voting in elections, it is a complex set of institutions that restrain and regularize the exercise of power through law and a system of checks and balance" (Fukuyama, 2013). The state must practice the principle of equal citizenship to all irrespective of religion, caste ethnicity and regional background. It must also ensure the quality of opportunity to all for advancement in social, political, and economic domains and guarantee the security of life and property of its citizens. The word Liberal derives from the Latin word “liber” meaning free. It was first used in 1815 and liberal started used in politics in the 19th century. Liberalism is believed in freedom of speech, independence, and equal rights. John Locke who is also regarded as the father of ‘classical liberalism’ emphasized individualism and popular sovereignty i.e. today’s liberal democracy. Liberalism supports social progress by changing laws and reforms than revolution. A loose definition of democracy can be taken as ‘government of the people, by the people and for the people. But how much of that is really practical has been the topic of debate for centuries. One of the major critics of the ‘rule of the majority has been Hobbes who preferred autocratic rule or the ‘master’s rod’ for men to follow the laws of nature (Schofeld, 2008: 179). Today in the world, the democratic index identifies a total of 75 democracies (flawed or full) out of a total of 167 countries excluding only microstates. Pakistan is an Islamic democratic country but it has not experienced a stable consolidation of democracy in seventy years of its history. The democracy facing many J. S. Asian Stud. 09 (03) 2021. 235-241 DOI: 10.33687/jsas.009.03.3929 240 problems since 1947 due to the reason of political ineffectiveness, the role of political elites, military performance, political situation, deficiencies, (Adnan & Fatima, 2018: 157) well-developed party system, lack of roots of constitutionalism, and fair and free election. The political elites like politicians, industrialists, and feudal lords are failed to provide the liberal democracy according to the constitutions. They cheated the trust of the people of Pakistan in the name of democracy because the character of political leaders is not clear. (Adnan & Fatima, 2018: 162) They have blamed the charges of corruption. The uncontrolled corruption in Pakistan is creating a threat and negative effects on the democracy by elite political culture. The appreciated aim of attaining a liberal democracy in Pakistan failed to take appropriate roots. There are many reasons for failure but they are mainly due to the political elite. Thomas Carothers’ ‘elite capture’ is by extension the real-world realization of a locking form of government that permits only ‘male property owners to vote. Carothers points out that liberal democracy will eventually fall into the hands of the wealthy that will then maneuver the policies of the government to suit their personal interests. Elite political culture or aristocracy is not something alien to real-existing democracies although sometimes it can be seen hiding behind the mask of democracy. A member of the aristocracy or an aristocrat enjoys privileges that lower classes of societies do not include but are not limited to intellectual supremacy which makes them ‘fit to govern'. The modern election process makes way for elective aristocracy as money plays an important part in election campaigns in the New World Order. “The availability of financial resources to contest well-financed election campaigns on an ever-larger scale has become a key to success in competition for elected political power. Even though many governments limit the finances involved in elections, a concept of ‘soft money' has surfaced which can be used on activities that indirectly influence the election campaigns. Big donors ‘purchase influence’ on election campaigns and the candidates. The candidates when elected want to keep the donors happy and make policies to facilitate or promote their interests. This is the elective form of aristocracy given birth to by the ‘liberal democracy’ and lurks behind the curtain of representative governments or parliamentary forms of government. Democracy in Pakistan is on the regressive path. Therefore, it can fairly be said that the democracy of today revolves around money which is a luxury owned by the elites. This has reduced the liberal democracy into an aristocracy. CONCLUSION The elite political culture defines that a small group of people containing the members of different organizations, institutions, and powerful families hold great power. The political elites play a negative and positive role but in developing countries like Pakistan, they played a negative role. They dominate over the whole society and political system. All political elite tried to control the government institutions through secret alliances, nexuses, cartels and effectively exert influences over the policies and decisions of the government, semi-government and private organization. There is also a great disconnect between people and elites. They have a lot of roles, power, and wealth to gain a dominant position in society. They eliminate the strengthening pillars of political institutions. They do not believe in delivering and good governance but their own agenda to follow. They use state machinery and resources to achieve and promote their personal benefits. Since they had no clear vision to deliver and good governance in the country. They badly exploit society in one pretext or another. They spread corruption and weaken the institutions for achieving their personal benefits. Unfortunately, all political parties have not played their role to check this rot, but they do provide the platform to the different elites groups. There is a great need for the state to take speedy right steps in order to ensure their work with their abilities and remove corruption and de-politicization of civil service (Adnan & Fatima, 2018: 162). At the same time, ethnic and sectarian issues are major hurdles to achieving a long-term sustained democracy. If we have to strengthen the political institutions, we have to ensure political participation of common people, implement the rule of law, educate the society, and restrict the government servants for only performing their official duties. Similarly, the democratic procedure must be continued that would not only minimize or eliminate the role of political elites but also shift existing political culture into liberal democratic culture for the progress and prosperity of the country. J. S. Asian Stud. 09 (03) 2021. 235-241 DOI: 10.33687/jsas.009.03.3929 241 REFERENCES Adnan, M., & Fatima, B. (2018, January-June). 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(2015). Circulation of Elite in West and in Pakistan: Historical Perspective. Journal of the Punjab University of Historical Society, 28(1), 41- 64. Schofeld, N. J. (2008). Political Economy of Democracy and Tyranny. Oldenbourg. Shafqat, S. (1997). Civil Military Relations in Pakistan: From Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to Benazir Bhutto. Colorado: West view Press. Siddiqa, A. (2012, June 30). What is Pakistan Elite?” The Express Tribune, July 1st. Retrieved 2021, from tribune.com.pk. Waqar, S. (July,2012). Military Bureaucratic Elite’s Target, Weak Political Institution in Pakistan. Presented in the 22nd Political Science World Congress in Madrid, Spain. Madrid Spain. Zaheer., H. (1994). The Separation of East Pakistan-The Rise and Realization of Bengali Muslim Nationalism. Karachi: Oxford University Press. Publisher’s note: EScience Press remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third-party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this

The death of liberal democracy?

The death of liberal democracy?

Politcal disorder

HOW does one describe the present political power structure? Diarchy? Not really. Some call it a hybrid or more precisely a civil-military partnership. Neither of the two fully defines the existing power matrix, with the civilian authority fast losing its relevance to the swelling support, real or hyped, for the military.

It is more a political disorder — not civil-military cohabitation. The balance of power has long tilted towards the military, yet neither Sharif the prime minister nor Sharif the general is actually in the driving seat. Can this tenuous power calculus last long? It cannot. But it is hard to predict how and what kind of change is in the offing.

It seems extremely difficult for Nawaz Sharif to regain lost ground amidst governance failure and the breaking down of consensus among the major political parties to defend the democratic political process. It was this unity that had protected the system during the PTI-Qadri dharna last year.

But that episode had also exposed the vulnerability of a set-up devoid of any effective leadership and competence. The perception of civil-military leadership being on the same page was mere eyewash. Pictures of the prime minister in a huddle with the army chief every other day did not hide the growing strains over major issues.

The military’s deepening involvement in state affairs and public expectations could lead to a slippery path.
Meanwhile, the clout of the military has grown further in the aftermath of the Peshawar school massacre and the formation of apex committees to oversee the implementation on the National Action Plan. The prime minister appeared quite happy with the military taking over the entire responsibility of internal security as well, but this has political ramifications. The broadening of the Karachi operation further enhanced the military’s role. That also caused an end to the politics of ‘reconciliation’ between the PML-N and the PPP that had helped the last parliament complete its term and the unprecedented transfer of power from one elected government to another.

Ironically, the growing shadow of the military over the political landscape has further divided political forces instead of uniting them. That has once again elevated the military to the position of sole arbiter of power. The tightening of the noose around the PPP and the MQM is indicative of the shape of things to come.

The sudden activation of NAB and the FIA and the widening of the corruption investigation against political leaders are certainly not incidental. It could not have been possible without the active backing of the military. The action against the Sindh provincial government officials closely connected to the top PPP leaders seems only the first step.

It has already forced Zardari and some other party leaders to flee the country. The Rangers are calling the shots in Karachi and the role of the provincial government is marginalised. The PPP has accused the federal agencies of selective accountability.

But the situation could turn more volatile with reports of the Sindh government considering the curtailment of the Rangers’ powers, barring them from taking action against political leaders. That would certainly bring the confrontation between the PPP and the military to a head. It will, however, be most interesting to see the response of the federal government in that situation.

Surely, the military-backed accountability is not going to be restricted only to the two Sindh-based parties. Its extension to Punjab will, however, have strong political implications particularly if the investigation is extended to members of the PML-N government. In this situation, the warning by the prime minister against a “conspiracy” to destabilise his government is quite loaded. Power is slowly slipping out of his hands.

Unsurprisingly, the popularity graph of Gen Raheel Sharif has catapulted with the growing power vacuum and widening chasm among the major political parties. Such a high public p

Diplomacy & the modern world

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Agriculture funding in new budget

Agriculture funding in new budget

Redefining the South Asian state

Redefining the South Asian state