Consensual Unity Amongst The Elite In Pakistan: Myth And Reality

Abstract

The relationship amongst elite within a state is highly central and significant for a political system and democracy. This research manuscript attempts to explore intra-elite politics and its impacts on parliamentary democracy in Pakistan especially in the last couple of years. Secondary as well as primary data through interviews have been consulted, collected and interpreted through content analysis. We found that military elite seeks a praetorian state, bureaucratic elite desire an administrative state, the religious elite strive for an Islamic state, urban-economic elite seek a bourgeois polity, judges, since 2007, found a space in the power structure tries to get legitimacy as it had a bad image in the past. We argue the absence of consensus, compromises, and convergence among the elite has negative impacts on parliamentary politics of Pakistan.