India, Pakistan, and Democracy: Solving the Puzzle of Divergent Paths

Why some countries have democratic regimes and others do not is both a significant issue in comparative politics and an important one for policy-makers to understand. This book presents an argument on why India is a democracy and Pakistan is not. Focusing on the specificities and the nuances of each state system, the author examines in detail the balance of authority and power between popular or elected politicians and the state apparatus through substantial historical analysis.Although similar, India and Pakistan clearly have contrasting political regime histories. These multi-religious and multi-lingual countries share a geographic and historical space that gave them in 1947, when they became independent from British rule, a virtually indistinguishable level of extreme poverty and extreme inequality. All of those factors militate against democracy, according to most theories, but democratic systems were the "next step" from the gradually liberalizing institutions of the state. In Pakistan, democracy did indeed fail very quickly after Independence. It has only been restored as a façade for military-bureaucratic rule for brief periods since then, including the present. After almost thirty years of democracy, India had a brush with authoritarian rule, in the 1975-76 Emergency, and some analysts were perversely reassured that the India exception had been erased. But instead, after a momentous election in 1977, democracy has become stronger over the last thirty years.A comparative analysis of the political systems of India and Pakistan as well as a historical overview of the two countries, this book constitutes essential reading for students of South Asian History and Politics. It is useful and balanced introduction to the politics of India and Pakistan.