Causes and Complexities of Underdeveloped Political Culture: The Case of Pakistan

Abstract

The study of political culture still appears pertinent and attracts all stakeholders living within a polity. From its inception to the contemporary era, Pakistan's political landscape displays a sad picture of the underperformance of political entities. This calls for immediate attention to finding the root causes of these problems. The current paper aims to find answers to whether Pakistani political culture is suited to serve the interests of the powerful or needs to be better for the growth of Pakistani polity. Drawing on the mainstream theoretical underpinnings, significant approaches, and foundational studies, this article presents the leading causes of Pakistan's current underdeveloped state of political culture. It argues that the intermittent nature of democracy and the role of the military, dynastic politics, cult of personality, feudalism, and underperformance of political parties, among others, are the leading causes of the underdevelopment of political culture. It discusses that the political culture in Pakistan may be suited well to oblige the interests of the elites. Still, it needs to be better to support a healthy, useful, and productive polity.