What Is Democracy? Challenges for Democracy in Pakistan

Abstract

This article aims to explore what democracy is and what are the key tools for the success of democracy. Democracy is a famous form of government in contemporary world politics. There are few key characteristics of true democracy, for instance; free and fair elections, the role of media, education, judiciary, political parties, and religious tolerance, etc. Pakistan has experienced authoritative and democratic forms of government since independence. Many democratic governments have governed the country but despite that politicians in Pakistan could not provide the basic facilities of life to the general public. Lack of timely, free and fair elections, the gap between political elite and public, martial-laws, civil-military relations, lack of education and awareness in the general public are some key hurdles in the success of democracy. Therefore, for the success of democracy in Pakistan, it is also necessary to improve these tools.

Topic Modeling of the Pakistani Economy in English Newspapers via Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA)

“…Besides, the corpus analysis also shows that Pakistani print media equally raised the voice of some people who have apprehensions about the CPEC project that it would increase Pakistan’s debt due to the shared burden of the economy with China. However, sustainable democracy is an option to eradicate the economic issue of the country (Bibi et al, 2018; Rizvi, 2011). In this regard, Pakistani youth and the rest of the professionals may play a vital role in facing the challenges in the region (Zaidi, 2005b).…”

Freedom of Speech and Expression in Pakistan

“…Since most democracies have passed laws restricting hate speech against any particular group, ideology, school of thought, religion, or institution, it is clear that this is a very difficult issue for all democracies to resolve. 12 Pakistan's 1956 and 1962 constitutions specifically acknowledged the right to free speech. Article 19 of the 1973 Constitution discusses the scope and nature of the right to free speech.…”

Dilemma of Democracy: Reasons for the Failure of Democracy in Pakistan

“…Free and fair elections, another characteristic of democratic system, could not be observed in Pakistan as seen by the rigged polling in the elections by invisible forces that showed the failure of Pakistan as a democratic state (Bibi, 2018). To come in power the elites always had to make deals with the institutions and other leaders to maintain power and by doing this the people's vote was bought as they followed a kinship system that undermined the democratic process.…”