Corruption and the Decline of the State in Pakistan

Author: Khan, Feisal

Source: Asian Journal of Political Science, Volume 15, Number 2, August 2007 , pp. 219-247(29)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

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Abstract:

Pakistan is generally included in most discussions of 'failing states' that pose the maximum danger to global security, with the rise of Islamic militancy being the most commonly cited reason for the 'failure'. However, Islamic militancy is a result of impending state failure, not a cause of it. This article argues that the state's inability, caused by decades of systemic corruption, to provide any appreciable level of public goods or services, broadly defined, is responsible for the delegitimization of the state and its inability to maintain law and order in the cities or suppress Islamist insurgents in the rest of the country.

Keywords: Pakistan; State Failure; Corruption; Misgovernance; Islamism

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02185370701511644

Publication date: 2007-08-01