HYBRID REGIMES AND DEMOCRATIC BACKSLIDING: IS PAKISTAN MOVING BEYOND ELECTORAL DEMOCRACY?

Abstract

Contemporary democratic backsliding is a particularly significant political phenomenon of the twenty-first century and therefore shakes up classical assumptions about the inevitable evolution of democratic governance. Rather than crumbling wholesale into overt authoritarianism, many regimes maintain the trappings of democratic institutions (especially elections) at the same time they are dismantling liberal norms, civil liberties and the institutional independence (Bermeo, 2016; Luhrmann & Lindberg, 2019). This aspect is generally referred to as a hybrid regime. Pakistan is an example of this global change: since 2008 it has had unbroken electoral continuity and civilian rule, but democratic consolidation is still far away. While elections continue, substantive democracy that includes civilian supremacy, the rule of law, political pluralism and protection of civil liberties progressively degrades (Rizvi, 2018; Fair 2023). This article argues that Pakistan has progressed beyond the level of electoral democracy to become representative of the characteristic features of a stabilised hybrid regime. Relying on institutional analysis and comparative democratic theory as well as recognized international benchmarks for measuring democratic formula, including Freedom House and the V-Dem Institute, the study shows that electoral processes in Pakistan are more of a regime-legitimating instrument than mechanisms of democratic accountability. By situating Pakistan in the wider literature on hybrid regimes and democratic backsliding, the article adds to the comparative theory on democracy and furthermore gives an in-depth understanding of the authoritarian adaptation in South Asia.