Politics in Pakistan refers to the ideologies and systems by whichPakistan wasestablished in 1947.[1] As envisaged by the nation's founding father,Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan is anation-state, constitutionally a democraticparliamentary republic.[2] Thenational cabinet, led by thePrime Minister of Pakistan has executive power and thepresident is thehead of state elected by the electoral college.[3] Pakistan'spolitical system is based on an elected form ofgovernance.[4] The democratic elections held in 2008 were the first to conclude a 5-year term in the nation's political history. However, since the country's inception, the military has had disproportionate power over state affairs.[5] Several military interventions have disrupted Pakistan's democracy. These interventions include takeovers byGeneral Ayub Khan (1958-1969),General Yahya Khan (1969-1971), GeneralZia Ul Haq (1977-1988), andGeneral Pervez Musharraf (1999-2008).[5]
TheIndus Valley civilization, present in the areas which is now modern day Pakistan andIndia were one of the earliest and largest ancient human civilizations alongsideMesopotamia, theNile Valley,Anatolia andancient China, known for its highly developed, sophisticated and urbanized culture.
Historians and social scientists studying the civilization's social structure observe that the Indus Valley had an organised planning system, including standard architecture, civic controls, consistent grid layouts and uniformed sanitary facilities. This well-disciplined lifestyle and a commonRule of Law extending throughout a large area leads some historians to believe and suggest the Indus Valley civilization in Pakistan as possibly the earliest cradle and model of democracy; one which was based on a "popular rule by the people" based on the conceptions of Welfare State and Rule of law (and hence the presence of some form of Democracy) which even predated old Greece.[6]
In the wake of intensifying political instability, the civilian bureaucracy and military assumed governing power in 1958. Since its independence, Pakistan's political system has fluctuated between civilian and military governments at various times throughout itspolitical history, mainly due to political instability, civil-military conflicts, politicalcorruption, and theperiodic coup d'états by the military establishment against weak civilian governments, resulting in the enforcement ofmartial law across the country (occurring in1958,1977 and1999, and led bychief martial law administrator-generalsAyub Khan,Zia-ul-Haq andPervez Musharraf respectively).[7] Democracy in Pakistan, however imperfect, has been allowed to function to varying degrees.
The2024 Pakistani general election while deeply flawed and with claimed electoral irregularities demonstrates a "continuity of an electoral process that has historically been subject to political engineering".[8]
Until 2013, Pakistan did not experience a democratic transfer of power from one democratically elected government that had completed its tenure to another. All of its previous democratic transitions have been aborted by military coups.[9] In 2024 Pakistan wasautocratizing according toV-Dem Democracy indices.[10]
