Introduction

Military continues to be a potent political actor in the developing countries, despite trends towards democracy and civilian rule. The causes of military’s intervention have been well theorized and documented. The focus began to shift from modernizing role of military to its coercive capacity and the dynamics of authoritarian rule, with the publication of Guilmero O’Donnell’s path breaking work Modernization and Bureaucratic Authoritarianism: Studies in South American Politics. Bureaucratic-military elites constitute the epitome of power structure in Pakistan. A military hegemonic political system is characterized by the hegemony of the military in the political system. The military-bureaucratic elites seek a superordinate-subordinate relationship with the political leaders, which produce elite manipulation and intensified factionalism. Regime change from military-hegemonic to possible democratic entails changes at all levels—local, regional and national. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.