The future of Dynastic Politics in Pakistan is gloomy or bright is a question of the Century for the Pakistanis. This phenomenon, “Dynastic Politics in Pakistan”, has been taken occasionally with different perspectives. Sometimes Positive and more times Negative. The major question here is, Has dynastic politics damaged democracy in Pakistan? The answer is multi-pronged. The first aspect is Positive and the second is Negative. We will try to find out the answers in the following paragraphs.
Has Dynastic Politics damaged democracy in Pakistan?
Pakistan direly needs Strong electoral competition for a functioning democracy seeing the current political crisis in Pakistan.
Political dynasties undermine the right of an individual to contest an election on an equal footing with other candidates. Dynastic politics is palpable across sectors, strata, and classes in rural and urban Pakistan. Dynasties yield unequal distribution of political power in democracies.
Read More: Future Of Dynastic Politics in Pakistan.
Disadvantages of Dynastic Politics:
Political dynasties pave the way for politics of exclusion. If you are a Democracy, and you are a Dynast at the same time, it contradicts the basic ideology of democracy, where everyone can take part in Politics.
The funniest thing is that all the three main Dynastic Parties in Pakistan claim, “Democracy is the best Revenge”.
Bilawal Zardari often rebutted English and Western interviewers when they asked about their status as Dynasts, that it even existed in America, Canada, and first-world countries. However, by claiming this, Bilawal manipulates and shows intellectual dishonesty as the percentage in these countries is quite low. Statistics indicate that the percentage of such dynasties occupying political offices in the Philippines is more than in any other country in the world, i.e. 60%. The numbers in other countries are India–29%, Japan–27%, America–6.2%, and Canada–3%. Whereas in Pakistan, this ratio is 52%, only the 2nd after the Philippines. In the May 2013 issue of the Herald, 597 families have monopolized the political scene in Pakistan since the 1970s.
Dynastic Politics reduces the Legitimacy of a Government:
This even impacts the quality of government policies, promotes patronage and corruption, and endures negative consequences through the selection effect. Research results show that dynasties lead to lower economic performance, and GDP per capita, and increases even crime rates. In simple words, it increases Corruption.
Lower parliamentary attendance ratio:
The available literature on the topic, Dynastic Politics, suggests that political dynasties have a lower parliamentary attendance ratio, less formal education, and fewer development funds.
