Issue of Democratic Accountability in the Contemporary History of Pakistan (1999-2008) Challenges and Prospects

Abstract

Political accountability is generally, in the context of a democratic state, related to issues, for instance, how elected representatives can be made responsible for their exercise of power and policies. The aim of this research is to establish the meaning of the phenomena of political accountability in the contemporary perspective of Pakistan. The Grounded theory as a method is used on archival data and interviewing. Political elites split off to join the spoils system of Musharraf regime in return for the accretion for power and kept themselves safe from accountability process, which was very selective, discriminatory, and politically-motivated, initiated by the Mushrraf government. Their preoccupation was with ruler ship rather than the electorate as citizens. In this classical cycle of client list politics, the government from top to the bottom was embedded in the notion of rewarding their „clients‟ rather than their principal actors of political accountability, i.e. the citizens.