ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the oscillation between civilian and military hegemonic rule in Pakistan, including the effect therein of competing ideologies. To begin with, it examines the origins and rationale for military intervention in politics. By doing so, it reveals the deep ideological crises that intensify instability. Then Shafqat’s authoritative analysis is used to discern a consequence of that ideological crisis, which is the growth of two conflicting political propensities in Pakistan, the ‘military-hegemonic’ and the ‘dominant party’ political systems. 1 The two hegemonic propensities exist in a symbiotic relationship, in which each at once opposes the other and, then, strengthens itself on the basis of that opposition. Afterwards, our analysis proceeds to examine how each hegemonic propensity reacts to ideological incoherence and assesses its impact on political instability. Critically, key questions were foremost during our inquiry: Why does the military continue to intervene in the political system? Why is there tension between civil and military spheres? What are the political conditions that mitigate military intervention? Is continuous military intervention a result of the lack of fit between ideological and political superstructures in terms of realities imposed by either the ‘traditionalists’ or ‘secularists’? These important questions will be related back to the primary scope of this study that attempts to unravel the causes of ideological and political instability in Pakistan with reference to its political culture.
