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Why has Democracy been less successful in Pakistan than in India?

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Published
<mark>Journal publication date</mark>03/2010
<mark>Journal</mark>Asian Affairs
Issue number1
Volume41
Number of pages11
Pages (from-to)67-77
Publication StatusPublished
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

Why does the post-Independence history of democracy in Pakistan contrast so sharply with that of India? The article suggests that there were historical factors to do with the vision of Pakistan as a Muslim state, differential inheritances at partition, with India inheriting the colonial state's unitary centre, the challenge of managing a diverse population separated by thousands of miles etc. In addition, the security problems with India amplified the role of the army and weakened the civilian politicians, many of whom were hardly democrats to start with. There were other external factors, principally US policy which saw Pakistan in a global geo-political context.