Is Democracy Threatened by Political Parties? The Case of Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Abstract

In Pakistan, political parties are mechanisms instrumentalized by the military rulers and powerful elites for political manipulation and strategic circumvention. Pakistan has failed to firmly entrench a coherent and ingenuous party system. Due to lack of institutional deepening, Pakistan’s macro and micro trajectory are highly dependent on the whims and fancies of the individual who happens to be in charge. Political parties suffer internal deficiencies, undemocratic structures and practices, defection, factionalism and top-heavy leadership. Yet, people of Pakistan have not given up democracy. This paper analyses why democracy has failed to establish root into the Pakistani soil and the prime hindrances in the trajectory of blossoming of democratic norms and values.