ABSTRACT
Pakistan has been ruled for most of its history directly by the military. Even during brief periods when the country returned to democratic rule – for instance, during 1971-1977 and 1988-1999 – the military persistently interfered in politics, eventually staging the coups of 1977 and 1999. However, the current phase of democratic rule in Pakistan, which formally began with the 2008 elections, has shown a somewhat different trajectory to the politics-as-usual of the past. The military still calls the shots in core areas of internal security and foreign policy, but has not openly subverted the democratic process. Its traditional domination of political structure and policy apparatus has also been challenged by a number of increasingly assertive civilian political actors. Moreover, politics of the country is no more a zero-sum-game between the civilian government and the military establishment, as the gravity of internal and external challenges has led to growing civil-military convergence over security, economic and foreign policy issues. Pakistan’s post-Musharraf political reality has evolved enough to justify revisiting its complex nature and dynamics. For how the process of political change proceeds in the future will determine what shape its fragile democracy takes and how the country conducts itself in the region. This chapter begins by placing Pakistan’s praetorian politics in a historical perspective. It then underlines major drivers of change and sources of persistence in its politics during and after the Musharraf era. Subsequent discussion explores the key areas of convergence and divergence in the civil-military relationship at present, as well as the nexus between the democratic process and regional peace, especially with reference to Pakistan’s India policy.
