DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION IN PAKISTAN: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ROLE OF INSTITUTIONS, ELITES, AND CIVIL SOCIETY (2008-2023)

Abstract

This article evaluates the democratic consolidation of Pakistan during the period 2008-2023 with a focus on institutions, elites, and civil society. It adopts a qualitative, comparative-historical framework, with integrated process tracing across four key episodes. It analyzes how constitutional engineering, the judicialization of politics, the administration of elections, civil–military relations, federal arrangements, and the information order collectively determine regime outcomes. The result is a finding of partial consolidation: regular elections and cutting-edge constitutional reforms, while expanding the formal democratic space, were accompanied by a security-sector dominance and a weak party institutionalization which encouraged elite bargaining. The parliamentary lack of oversight, especially in the budget, was complemented by the judiciary’s expanded role which, having encouraged accountability, also politicized adjudication. The administration of elections improved, but the unresolved issues of campaign finance, dispute resolution, and the perception of neutrality remain. Devolution of power, while strengthening provincial autonomy, created unstable local governments which, in turn, weakened grassroots accountability. Civil society and, particularly through the internet, the independent media, were able to mobilize but suffered from regulatory and coercive control which muted their voice. The article calls for the consolidation of civic space and the institutionalization of elite contestation within predictable, democratic rules as the consolidation of democracy in Pakistan.