Factors Responsible for Weak Democratic Culture among the Political Parties of the Pakistan

Abstract

Democracy, as defined by Lincoln, is “government of the people by the people, and for the people” (1). Political parties around the globe function under the same ideology. On the contrary, the true democratic process is not fully observed within these parties. Though this observation is applicable globally to nearly all political parties in one way or another, in Pakistan, similar to other third world countries, the political parties have growing scarcity of the democratic culture. If party elections and voting are held to some extent, it is taken merely as a ritual or legal binding only. As a practice, one finds an authoritarian approach, hegemony, oligarchy and limited freedom of decision-making provided to members of parties.