A Culturalist Explanation of Democratic Deficit in Pakistan

Abstract

The failure to ensure smooth democratization and uninterrupted institutionbuilding process has been explained by scholars in different ways. Both structural and rationality paradigms have been used to explain democratic deficit in different political and social settings. The variants with in structural paradigm focus on historical explanations, class structure and role of institutions. Though, the predominant intellectual theme in case of Pakistan has been the role of the military as an institution in political processes, which ultimately hinders democracy. Scholars of rationality paradigm point out civilians‟ (i.e. both elite as well as voters) indifference towards the participatory governance system. This paper challenges these arguments and fulfills the gap in literature by offering a culturalist explanation to frame Pakistan‟s democratic deficit. This research focuses on how the culture with traits like revered authority and unconditional submission tends to end up becoming anti-democracy. The paper tests whether a centralized family system, predominance of clan/tribe/caste system and a culturally convenient interpretation of religion creates an environment, which hinders democracy.