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.