Hybrid Democracy of Pakistan: A Challenge to the Sovereignty of People

Abstract

Pakistan’s political system defies simple binary classification, operating persistently as a hybrid democracy. This model strategically blends formal democratic institutions, such as periodic elections and a constitutional framework, with an entrenched authoritarian core dominated by the country’s military establishment. This article argues that this hybridity poses a fundamental and systemic challenge to the principle of popular sovereignty, wherein the people are constitutionally mandated as the ultimate source of political authority. Through a qualitative and analytical methodology, this study deconstructs the key pillars upholding this hybrid regime. It examines the sophisticated mechanisms of political engineering that transform elections into instruments of management rather than expressions of popular will. It further analyzes the judicial interface that often legitimizes establishment preferences, the coercive media management apparatus that controls public discourse, and the military’s vast economic empire, which creates a powerful vested interest in maintaining the political status quo. The cumulative impact of these structures is a severe sovereignty deficit, rendering parliament subservient on critical national policies and eroding public trust in the democratic process itself. The article concludes that the gap between the constitutional ideal of popular sovereignty and the de facto reality of military dominance is the defining crisis of Pakistani governance. Without a decisive shift towards genuine civilian supremacy, the sovereignty of the people will remain a theoretical concept, perpetually subordinated to the interests of an unelected oligarchy.

Keywords: Hybrid Democracy, Pakistan, Popular Sovereignty, Military Establishment, Political Engineering, Civil-Military Relations, Competitive Authoritarianism