India and Pakistan: The Role of Regimes, Consensus and Stability

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How do the governments of a dictatorial regime (Pakistan) and a democratic regime(India) differ? Statistics suggest India has economically overtaken Pakistan on most indicators. However, this was not a foregone conclusion, as India's income per capita in 1990 (using 2011 constant prices), the per capita income (using 2011 constant prices) in India was 1,773 PPP US dollars, just 58% of Pakistan’s. Yet after two decades, India caught up and now surpasses Pakistan by 20%. This first observation brings the question of the divergent political and economic paths these two countries took to explain such differences in development. After the enactment of their independence from the British Empire, both countries had to build a political framework. On the one hand, Pakistan’s constitution was embedded in conflict, elections were regularly postponed and military coups undermined institutions. On the other hand, India drafted the world’s longest constitution, successfully held free and fair elections and took the democratic route. These provide insights into the topic of instability due to the regime type of the two countries. Pakistan being an autocracy, was an extremely unstable country with a weak government whereas India being a democracy, had flourished into the fastest developing nation in the world with a stable and fair government elected by the people. This study aims to analyse the impact of varying political structures, institutional frameworks, and power distribution mechanisms in both countries on the establishment and sustenance of political consensus crucial for upholding democratic principles. First, it provides a base on which the research paper rests and discusses the turbulent history of Pakistan alongside the developing, advancing history of India. The governments and political systems of both are explained and the conflicts between the two countries are unveiled. After having established this, we look at why and how the regime type of Pakistan can be regarded as unstable and, in comparison why and how these same variables allow us to regard India as a stable country.