| Kommentar |
The rise of authoritarianism in South Asia and beyond provokes the need to investigate the
causes of democracy’s ups and downs. While a single study cannot even begin to explain in detail
all the circumstances observed in this respect throughout the world, this seminar seeks to explain
and allow its participants to understand the regime trajectories of India and Pakistan since 1947,
including their recent democratic declines.
Our main question will be: “Why is India a democracy and Pakistan is not?”. Despite socioeconomic
and cultural features these two states have in common, India and Pakistan ended up with
different political systems. While a majority of comparative studies identifies India as a democracy,
the perception of Pakistan varies among scholars. Having experienced two democratic transitions,
in 2013 and 2018, the Islamic Republic continues to be characterised as a hybrid regime.
The course will focus on following India and Pakistan’s regime trajectories in order to
distinguish cultural, political and socio-economic conditions that have favoured or, to the contrary,
prevented the occurrence of democracy and its further developments. We will draw on reports on
democracy (The Freedom House, Polity IV), Indian and Pakistani movies portraying the countries'
socio-economic and cultural features, programmes of key political parties (Indian National
Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, Indian communist parties, Pakistan Peoples’ Party, Pakistan
Muslim League (Nawaz), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Muttahida Qaumi Movement), selected acts of
law, media news and relevant scholarly literature.
While carefully investigating sources, we will notice the gap between what is legal (permitted
by law) and legitimate (accepted by society) that exists in both countries. We will examine why
societies in those states recognise some illegal practices (e.g. barring women from voting in some
districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) as legitimate and, vice versa, legal ones (allowing women of all
ages to enter the temple in Sabarimala in Kerala following the judgment of the Indian Supreme
Court) as illegitimate. This gap may hinder our investigation, yet it will also make the analysis
multifactorial and more engaging. |
| Literatur |
Oldenburg, Philip. 2010. India, Pakistan and Democracy. Solving the Puzzle of Divergent Paths,
New York: Routledge.
Tudor, Maya. 2013. The Promise of Power. The Origins of Democracy in India and Autocracy in
Pakistan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. |
