Abstract
In Pakistan, political engineers at different times have
designed such institutional structures which have generally
resulted in their mutual tug of war. This has not only happened
at the national level but also at the local level. Democracy has
been a victim of three enemies: incompetent politicians;
military coups and a corrupt bureaucracy. The last corrodes
the system from within..
1 Despite their role as micro managers
local government institutions have ironically been opposed by
the higher bureaucracy. It has been its effort all along to
weaken the local elected bodies, make them subserveient and
keep them under its thumb. In fact the bureaucracy has used
the local institutions to further consolidate their power. Under
the Devolution of Power Plan, 2001 an attempt was made to
make bureaucracy subordinate to local elected-public
representatives. Unfortunately, this plan too could not escape
the stranglehold of the bureaucracy. The civil servants in
collaboration with power hungry politicians saw to it that
democracy at the grass-roots level failed each time it was
introduced in Pakistan. In short, local governments have been
an anathema in the political and administrative structures
prevailing in Pakistan.
Amir Ullah Khan. (2014) Liberating Local Democracy from Subservience to Bureaucracy in Pakistan: Ramifications & Recommendations, IPRI Journal, Volume-14, Issue-2.
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