ABSTRACT
This chapter examines several questions related to two key countries in South Asia – India and Pakistan – and their differing experiences with democratic transition and consolidation. The key question that the chapter addresses is: how and why do India and Pakistan differ in terms of democracy both historically and at the present time? What are their future democratic prospects? Although once part of the same country, Pakistan and India have had divergent democratic trajectories. On the one hand, India is a consolidated but illiberal democracy. Many among Indian elites and ordinary citizens have a philosophical commitment to democracy, and politics is generally governed by democratic procedures. However, while citizens' civil liberties are continually encroached upon by the state, India's democratic prospects are quite promising. Pakistan, on the other hand, has been under authoritarian rule for most of its history; several governments have been military dictatorships (McGrath 1996). Although the country's democratic position has recently improved, a toxic combination – including, pervasive and persistent military influence on politics, weak and fragmented civil society, and strong linkages between religious extremism and the state – combine to make full democratic transition and consolidation unlikely.
