Political instability in Pakistan: can a democratic federal political system resolve the problem of premature dissolutions of government in Pakistan?

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Nawaz, A, 2018. Political instability in Pakistan: can a democratic federal political system resolve the problem of premature dissolutions of government in Pakistan? DLegal, Nottingham Trent University.

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Abstract

According to the researcher's hypothesis of constitutional suitability, only a suitable political system works efficiently, a suitable political system for a democratic federal state such as Pakistan is a Democratic Federal Political System, which comprises key factors such as equal representation, separation of powers and a system of checks and balances. These factors appear to be either missing or not appropriately incorporated in Pakistan's past and present constitutional instruments. To test the hypothesis, this document uses two methods of investigation.

The first is a qualitative, interpretative evaluation of the prevalence of absolute power and self-interest in Pakistan's constitutional history by reference to historical and statutory sources. This can be traced back to colonial times. Absolute power has been carried forward either explicitly or implicitly in Pakistan’s constitutional instruments to preserve self-interest that followed on from vice regal reigns, which has resulted in seven episodes of state emergency. At times, some of the key factors have been present in Pakistan, putting a temporary halt to premature dissolutions of government. However, it is concluded that the practice is likely to continue until a suitable political system is assumed.

The second is a structuralist and functionalist comparative law analysis of both the state and political structures of the USA and Pakistan. The USA's political system has great similarities to the researcher's model of a Democratic Federal Political System. This analysis shows that there appear to be several incompatibilities between the political systems. Nevertheless, there is a great deal of similarity between the state structures of both countries. It is, therefore, concluded that the initial hypothesis has been substantially borne out, and that it would be possible for Pakistan to adopt a Democratic Federal Political System, although slight variations from the US model will be required.

Item Type:	Thesis
Creators:	Nawaz, A.
Date:	December 2018
Rights:	This work is the intellectual property of the author. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed to the author.
Divisions:	Schools > Nottingham Law School
Record created by:	Linda Sullivan
Date Added:	16 Jul 2019 14:46
Last Modified:	16 Jul 2019 14:46
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/37106