Military Supremacy in Pakistan: A Case of Military Dictators and Eluded Democracy

For more than half of Pakistan’s 75 years of existence, the country has been ruled by military dictators. Although Pakistan is more or less considered a democracy, I will be arguing in my thesis that it is, in fact, a garrison-cum-hybrid democratic state. I will explain through various domestic and international events how Pakistan’s military leaders have taken advantage of several foreign and domestic events to stay in power, even when democratically elected civilian governments were ruling. The actions and decisions of military rulers have become institutionalized in Pakistan and shaped its future trajectory in terms of institutional, political, social and religious norms that non-military leaders have also adopted or been affected by, thereby hindering their ability to rule democratically