Democracy gone sour?

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Jinnah and his companions envisioned the country as a democratic state where governance would reflect the people's will, ensuring inclusivity and prosperity across diverse communities. This vision was rooted in principles of equality and representation, promising a system responsive and accountable to its citizens.

However, this democratic ideal has mostly been corrupted into a hybrid system. This system combines stratocracy, dynastic despotism, plutocracy, theocracy, oligarchy, totalitarianism and anarchy. It has been repurposed to entrench the interests of a powerful few: stratocrats, dynastic despots, plutocrats, theocrats and other stakeholders, such as feudal lords and bureaucrats, resulting in a political system that is a fusion of multiple governance models. These models overlap and collectively reinforce an anti-democratic structure where top-down power, driven by elite interests, prioritises the substance of governance over its form.

The deep state remains a dominant force in Pakistan's politics, ensuring that even civilian governments operate under its oversight, with a stratocracy securing its economic and political stakes. Political power is largely concentrated within PML-N and PPP, and their dynastic politicians, where leadership is inherited rather than earned through merit. This dynastic trend undermines democratic competition, transforming elections into a rotation among familiar names, rather than a contest of ideas.

Wealthy landowners, industrialists and business tycoons wield disproportionate influence, often funding political campaigns or aligning with stratocrats and dynasts to promote and protect their economic interests. This creates a system where policies serve the rich, not the masses. Religious groups and clergy have increasingly influenced legislation and public discourse. Historically, they have been used to legitimise otherwise illegitimate socio-political settings and policies in the public's eyes. Today, clerics selectively endorse national issues, issuing edicts that justify government actions — regardless of legality or public interest — while remaining silent on crucial public concerns. This theocratic influence aligns with other elites to maintain control and undermines democratic principles.

This oligarchic core colludes across apparent divides to preserve their power. They exploit laws and employ repressive tactics to stifle civilised dissent, thereby suppressing democratic accountability. Over the decades, this system has led to a breakdown of law and order, socio-economic and political exclusion and anarchy in most parts of the country, where the weak state writ allows lawlessness to coexist with centralised elitist control. This anarchy breeds and benefits local warlords, tribal leaders, political electables, and everyone who aligns with the broader system.

Far from chaotic, this hybrid system is symbiotic: each element reinforces the others. For example, the deep state supports dynastic politicians to maintain stability, while plutocrats finance both to secure favourable policies. The democratic label legitimises this arrangement and serves a dual purpose: it placates the public with the illusion of agency and secures international legitimacy. Had Pakistan not cloaked itself in democracy, true democracy might have evolved sooner. For instance, Zia-ul-Haq's decade-long martial law eventually ended, yet the democratic mask has endured for over seventy-five years, stifling genuine democratic culture.

The system's durability stems from collaboration among its key actors who, despite occasional rivalries, share a common goal - concentrating power and resources at the public's expense. Socio-economic indicators reflect this reality: widespread poverty, inequality and inadequate services persist despite decades of "democratic" governance.

A true democracy requires a new social contract forged by the people, not imposed by traditional hybrid elites. However, success depends on people's political education, deep structural and institutional reforms, a clear separation of powers, legitimate socio-political settings and the constitutional validity of all state policies that affect the people's well-being.