DEMOCRACY, DICTATORSHIP OR HYBRIDITY: AN INCESSANT LABYRINTH OF PAKISTANI POLITICAL HISTORY

Abstract

The term hybrid regime has recently become very popular in the Pakistani politics. Not many people outside the select group of political scientists were even aware of concept only a decade ago. This paper discusses this concept in detail in context of Pakistan’s political history to prove that hybrid regime is not an anomaly but a norm in Pakistan’s political system and that Pakistan’s regimes throughout the history were neither pure democracies nor absolute stratocracies. It proves that from inception till this day Pakistan has always had hybrid regimes. Government is framed apparently by civilian political people, but somewhere the role of establishment in governmental affairs is absolutely undeniable. This study aimed to explore the leading issues that are considered as significant contributors towards the political regime along with its implication towards desired change. In this connection, present study uses the qualitative content analysis technique for data analysis for finding the answers of the research questions and reaching the desired conclusion of study. Thus, the findings reveals that the government in Pakistan is neither liberal democracy nor authoritarian rather; the government in our country is hybrid regime.