Pakistan's Political Parties: Surviving between Dictatorship and Democracy

by Mariam Mufti (Editor), Sahar Shafqat (Editor), Niloufer Siddiqui (Editor), Niloufer Siddiqui (Contribution by), Saeed Shafqat (Contribution by)

Overview

Pakistan’s 2018 general elections marked the second successful transfer of power from one elected civilian government to another—a remarkable achievement considering the country’s history of dictatorial rule. Pakistan’s Political Parties examines how the civilian side of the state’s current regime has survived the transition to democracy, providing critical insight into the evolution of political parties in Pakistan and their role in developing democracies in general.

Pakistan’s numerous political parties span the ideological spectrum, as well as represent diverse regional, ethnic, and religious constituencies. The essays in this volume explore the way in which these parties both contend and work with Pakistan’s military-bureaucratic establishment to assert and expand their power. Researchers use interviews, surveys, data, and ethnography to illuminate the internal dynamics and motivations of these groups and the mechanisms through which they create policy and influence state and society.

Pakistan’s Political Parties is a one-of-a-kind resource for diplomats, policymakers, journalists, and scholars searching for a comprehensive overview of Pakistan’s party system and its unlikely survival against an interventionist military, with insights that extend far beyond the region.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626167704
Publisher:	Georgetown University Press
Publication date:	05/01/2020
Series:	South Asia in World Affairs Series
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Mariam Mufti is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Waterloo.

Sahar Shafqat is a professor of political science at St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

Niloufer Siddiqui is an assistant professor of political science at the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at University at Albany, State University of New York.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Pakistan’s Political Parties in an Era of TransitionsNiloufer Siddiqui, Mariam Mufti, and Sahar Shafqat

Part I: The Form of Pakistan’s Party System

1. The Formation, Development, and Decay of the Pakistan Muslim League-NawazSaeed Shafqat

2. Pakistan People’s Party: From Populism to PatronagePhilip E. Jones

3. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf: From a Movement to a Catch-All PartyTabinda M. Khan

4. What Remains of the Muttahida Qaumi MovementTahir Naqvi

5. Leftist Parties in Pakistan: Challenges and LimitationsAnushay Malik

6. Religious Parties: The Politics of Denominational Diversity in an Islamic RepublicJohann Chacko

Part II: The Functions Served by Pakistan’s Party System

7. Who Do Politicians Talk To? Political Contact in Urban PunjabAsad Liaqat, Ali Cheema, and Shandana Khan Mohmand

8. Candidate-Party Linkages in Pakistan: Why Do Candidates Stick with Losing Parties?Hassan Javid and Mariam Mufti

9. Women in Electoral Politics: An Account of ExclusionSarah Khan

10. Governance amid Crisis: Delegation, Personal Gain, and Service Delivery in PakistanSameen A. Mohsin Ali

11. Opposition Parties and Regime Uncertainty in PakistanSahar Shafqat

Part III: The Survival of Pakistan’s Party System

12. The Kingmaker: Pakistan’s Military and Political PartiesAyesha Siddiqa

13. Judicial Politics in a Hybrid Democracy: Pakistan’s Judiciary and Political PartiesYasser Kureshi

14. Parties and Foreign Policy in PakistanChristopher Clary

Conclusion: Political Parties in an “Establishmentarian Democracy”Mohammad Waseem

Appendix: Pakistan Electoral Results, 1988–2018

References

About the Contributors

What People are Saying About This

Charles H. Kennedy

This is truly an important contribution to the literature on political parties and electoral considerations in Pakistan. There is nothing like it that currently exists.

Kavita Khory

Pakistan’s Political Parties is a timely and vital contribution to the social science literature on political parties in south Asia . . . . It presents an exceptionally lucid and well-crafted analysis of major political parties in Pakistan, their role and functions in a nascent democracy, and the relationship of political parties to other institutions.

Katharine Adeney

This is a long overdue, but essential, contribution to our understanding of Pakistan. With an impressive author list, this will become the go-to book on understanding political parties in Pakistan’s hybrid regime.

Steven Wilkinson

This wonderful book is absolutely indispensable for understanding Pakistan’s democracy, and all of the main actors and interests involved. The various authors manage very effectively to combine deep knowledge of Pakistan’s political parties, social groups, and interests, with the comparative breadth to put everything into broader theoretical perspective.

Charles Kennedy

This is truly an important contribution to the literature on political parties and electoral considerations in Pakistan. There is nothing like it that currently exists.

Editorial Reviews

If I were a young diplomat heading to a political-reporting assignment in Pakistan, I would definitely want this volume on my bookshelf. It has the strength one expects from an academic work. Importantly, it conveys the tremendous diversity of Pakistan’s ethnic and religious landscape, and the complexity of all the parties’ relationships with the military.

Survival: Global Politics and Strategy

Pakistan’s Political Parties is a timely and vital contribution to the social science literature on political parties in south Asia . . . . It presents an exceptionally lucid and well-crafted analysis of major political parties in Pakistan, their role and functions in a nascent democracy, and the relationship of political parties to other institutions.

Kavita Khory

This is truly an important contribution to the literature on political parties and electoral considerations in Pakistan. There is nothing like it that currently exists.

Charles Kennedy

This wonderful book is absolutely indispensable for understanding Pakistan’s democracy, and all of the main actors and interests involved. The various authors manage very effectively to combine deep knowledge of Pakistan’s political parties, social groups, and interests, with the comparative breadth to put everything into broader theoretical perspective.

Steven Wilkinson

Overall, there is little doubt that Pakistan’s Political Parties marks an important, multi-faceted breakthrough in the study of Pakistan’s politics and the particularities of institutional power and form found within its political sphere. From a readership perspective, the general language, analytical style, and accessibility of the volume make it well suited for both a social science academic audience looking to study Pakistan in a comparative or singular perspective, and to more curious general readers as well.

Bloomsbury Pakistan

This is a long overdue, but essential, contribution to our understanding of Pakistan. With an impressive author list, this will become the go-to book on understanding political parties in Pakistan’s hybrid regime.

Katharine Adeney

This is truly an important contribution to the literature on political parties and electoral considerations in Pakistan. There is nothing like it that currently exists.

Charles H. Kennedy