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In authoritarian states, emerging democracies, and well-established democracies alike, alternative accounts that contest official state narratives are common. Why do people believe such accounts even in the absence of supporting evidence? While this question has been explored in the United States, relatively little research has assessed it in other contexts. Through a survey experiment carried out in Pakistan, this article tests the impact of cues by political parties on belief in such conspiracy theories. The results provide evidence in favor of partisan cueing: When alternative narratives are endorsed by political parties viewed favorably by the respondent, they are more likely to be believed. I suggest that political parties are able to capitalize on misinformation and a lack of trust in official institutions for tactical advantage. Results differ by subgroup: Higher income and urban respondents are swayed more by their own party source than are lower income and rural individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Dilemas Contemporáneos: Educación, Política y Valores is the property of Dilemas Contemporaneos: Educacion, Politica y Valores and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Dilemas Contemporáneos: Educación, Política y Valores is the property of Dilemas Contemporaneos: Educacion, Politica y Valores and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study is focused on the impact of religion on the electoral pattern of the people of Punjab. Religion as a determinant of voting behavior is best expressed in the votes secured by the religious parties. Thus, religious parties vote in Pakistan and Punjab is studied to build an argument. Religion has a strong impact on human life. It influences each act and attitude of the individual especially in developing countries. In Pakistan; religion has a solid affect in shaping the political attitudes and beliefs of the individuals. It is one of the key elements of politics.2018 general elections saw a sudden rise in the vote bank of religious political parties. It witnessed a 2.17 % increase in the religious vote country wide and 1.32% increase in Punjab. Tahreek Labbaik Pakistan appeared on the scene as a radical Sunni Islamic party, it mobilized the barelvi vote bank to great effect. And it emerged as the third largest party of Punjab, in terms of votes polled. 2018 general elections also witnessed the rise of Milli Muslim League which was a political wing of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, who were previously rejecting the parliamentary form of government and were critical of voting in elections. The increase in the influence of the various spiritual gaddi nasheen in the electoral politics of Punjab was also a prominent factor during the 11th general election. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani Siddiqui (1926-2003) who did not believe in separating religion from politics joined active politics in 1970. His journey from passive to active politics was gradual. Though he started taking part in politics by establishing 'National Guards' in 1940's to further the cause of All India Muslim League of a separate homeland for the Muslims of the Indian Sub-continent, However, soon after the partition, following the footsteps of his father Maulana Shah Abdul Aleem Saddiqui (1892-1955), Maulana Noorani concentrated more on the missionary activities. Along with this he also participated in the Anti-Qadiani Movement in 1953 and later elected as the senior vice president of the Jamiat-i- Ulema-i- Pakistan (JUP) West Pakistan in 1955.After the death of his father in the same year Maulana Noorani took full charge of his father's missionary work abroad (1955-1969) and remained fully committed to it. During this time period he remained unknown in Pakistani politics until, in 1970, he presided over a historical meeting of the leading Ulama and Masha'ikh of Ahl-i-Sunnat wa Jammat held in Darul ulum Hizb-ul-Ahnaf Lahore, which resulted in the unification of various groups of the JUP and gave birth to a 'united' political party of Ahl-i Sunnat. This paper had presented a critical review of Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani's early political career, showing that how he roused from the office bearer JUP Karachi to the position of JUP parliamentary leader and one of the leading political figures of the country. The paper also focused on his role in the victory of his party in 1970 election, strong opposition of socialism, propagation of Nizam-i-Mustafa, democracy and efforts to keep the country united. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pakistani politics is full of political rhetoric. Attractive slogans are used by leaders of political parties to inspire and set the mood of public about a particular issue. Even parliament is neglected by politicians. This political immaturity led the nation towards street politics and polarization in the society. Due to elements of intolerance in politics, leadership could not find consensus and viable solutions. The paper analyzes political rhetoric; slogan politics and role of parliament in Pakistan especially focusing on the first one year of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz's (PML-N) current government. In this context, political parties and their leaders' popular statements particularly in print media containing rhetoric and slogans to resolve two important issues i.e. electoral reforms and energy crisis has been examined. Political parties' initiatives in the form of calling attention notices, questions, resolutions, bills, motions and point of orders in the parliament have also been assessed followed by recommendations. The paper highlights that politicians generally use rhetoric and slogan politics instead of using parliament to satisfy the public on various issues. The paper recommends that political parties should enhance intellectual depth of party members and leaders so that they can effectively use the forum of parliament for resolving issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the study is to analyse different aspects of the first General Elections of Pakistan, held in 1970 that marked the beginning of a new political arena too. Moreover, this writing aims at understanding the impacts of the electoral manifestos, slogans and symbols of the major contesting parties like Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Awami League (AL), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), PML (Qayyum), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan, and National Awami Party (Wali). Besides, it aims to compare the concepts of Islamic Socialism vis a vis Bengali Nationalism in 1970. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study discusses the intricacies of the political landscape in Pakistan and its compatibility with the modern political marketing theory. The election campaigns of the three largest political parties Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz, Pakistan People's Party, and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in the general elections 2013 were critically analyzed in the print media to comprehend the political marketing trends in Pakistan. It was found out that that the three parties largely employed mutually exclusive strategies in order to garner the support of the electorate. The success ratio of the political parties in the general elections 2013 signifies the importance of certain advertising appeals, advertising themes, and aggressively attacking the opponents. The study also questioned the veracity of the exaggerated and delusive claims made in the advertisements. The findings have implications not only for future electioneering in Pakistan, but also other countries with similar demographics and socioeconomic setups. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In direct contravention to founding fathers' envision, Pakistan was ruled, by the military for much of its existence. Whenever civilian rule manage to come about has been compromised at best and distorted at the worst, at the behest of the men in Khaki. The Pakistani military is often held responsible for and accused of undermining institutional growth. Moreover political representatives when in power did not deliver on 'stability' and development front due to ideological and structural inadequacies, giving an excuse for military to intervene. Besides the power relations that Pakistan inherited -- feudal dominance -- continued unabated even after independence, establishing its iron hold onto state institutions including that of the military. In fact, social composition of feudal elites did not alter all these decades, pushing majority of people out of the corridors of power. Even presently unraveling social, economic and political upheavals, it seems not powerful enough to rupture and debase elites. Given these socio- political and economic realities prevalent in Pakistan as to what are the prospects of civilian rule in the country? This paper explores answers to that question in a context of renewed optimism that is sweeping the country at present -- because a democratically elected government has completed its full five year term (2008-2013) - a rare political achievement; and argues that civil-military relations shall continue to radiate disappointment in view of ever growing role of security establishment on account of extremely volatile neighborhood and violent politics within. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on a recent theoretical perspective and approach in the study of political institutions-'new institutionalism'. The primary aim of the paper is to illustrate the theoretical assumptions of 'new institutionalism' with empirical evidence from Pakistan. The paper illustrates the theoretical assumptions of new institutionalism especially its distinction between formal and informal institutions. New institutionalism is quite distinctive in its emphasis on informal institutions rather than on formal ones. This study delineates such distinction by placing it in the context of political processes and structures in Pakistan. The paper argues that political processes and structures in Pakistan exhibit considerable presence of informal institutions though they often go unnoticed and along with them their influence on democratic governance. We expect that this paper will contribute to the existing literature by focusing on informal institutions, which does not get much attention in academic writings on the political process in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the role of military in the politics of Pakistan. The researcher highlights how our politicians have always been unable to develop a political culture on democratic parameters in the country. Side by side the masses start lacking trust in the politicians and political setup for their authoritarian attitude and inheritor leadership. Our political parties, no doubt, have good shows in the case of local leaders but unluckily they have been lethargic in giving birth to the leaders of national and international caliber. This factor creates gaps for military to enter politics and stay there under the very doctrine of 'necessity'. Since the very early days of our emergence on the globe of the world, there has been a misconception that military may align all the disorders and civil institutions are not allowed to promote but in fact military did some better than these politicians. The research is based on the analysis of the authentic material in the form of literature in comparative politics, institutional theory, as well as civil military relations and political sector reforms. Through the conceptualization of the data, the researchers have developed thier stance that if our politicians learn to make decisions wisely like those of India, the results would be far better and healthier as both states got independence on the same turn of the history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1947 India got free from the British rule in the form of two independent sovereign states of India and Pakistan. .At the time of division the province of Punjab was divided along religious lines into two parts: West Punjab and East Punjab. Eastern Punjab stayed with India and the West Punjab was assimilated in to the newly emerging country of Pakistan. Use of an article of 'the' in the title is to focus on the province of Punjab which became the part of Pakistan. Thus the post-independence electoral experience of Punjab is dealing with only the Pakistani Punjab. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores several challenges to Pakistan's political system due to the negative role played by the regional political parties. Topics being discussed include the theoretical framework and the background of the party politics in the colonial period as well as the party system and its importance in a federation. Other information such as the survival and stability of the coalition governments is presented.

How do political parties in Pakistan aggregate votes and connect to voters, especially in rural areas? Most explanations for party-voter linkages in rural Pakistan can be grouped into four broad categories: (a) political parties are made up of powerful landlords who use economic power to collect votes from dependent voters; (b) parties are conglomerations of clientelist networks; (c) parties are large aggregations of kinship networks; and (d) parties function by building links with specific types of constituencies across large parts of the country, and voters forge links with political parties based on ideology and party identification. These are, at best, only partial explanations. How is it that they can all co-exist? The answer lies in the level of analysis employed. I argue that when viewed in aggregated form at a macro-level of analysis, such as that of national politics, these varied explanations of party-voter linkages appear to be distinct and sometimes mutually exclusive. However, when disaggregated and examined at a micro-level of analysis, that of village-level politics, it becomes obvious how it is possible for all of these linkages to not only co-exist but often even work together. I adopt this micro-level of analysis through a longitudinal study of one village in Pakistan's most populous and politically most important province, Punjab. Using the case study of Sahiwal, I argue that the reason for the varied explanations is that the link between political parties and their voters is rarely direct. Instead, it is mediated by different types of local actors. As the national political arena changes, different actors gain precedence, leading to multiple explanations of what is really going on in rural Pakistan between political parties and their voters. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Summary: I consider structural reforms to democracy in Pakistan using ideas from the analysis of oligopolistic competition and game theory. Successful democracy requires strong, flexible political parties and high-quality, responsible leaders. Parliamentary responsibility for government helps develop strong parties. National parties should be able to nominate candidates in all elections at all levels. For flexibility, members of the National Assembly should be free to form new parties. With federalism, provincial and local democracy also reduce political entry barriers. Approval-voting open-list proportional representation can strengthen democratic leadership in all communities. Runoff elections would allow more flexible party competition in single-seat districts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The separation of East Pakistan was culmination of the weakness of certain institutions of Pakistan's political system. This failure of the institutions was in turn the result of the failure of the leadership of Pakistan who could not understand the significance of the political institutions and could not manoeuvre the institutions for the strength and unity of Pakistan. Like in every political system the political parties were one of the major institutions in Pakistan which could enable the federation of Pakistan to face the challenge of separatism successfully. This paper will examine how any national political party could not grow and mature in Pakistan and thus a deterrent of the separatism could not be established. The paper will also reveal that the political parties were not strengthened by the leaders who always remained stronger than the parties and continued driving the parties for the sake of their personal political motives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In October 2002, for the first time in Pakistan's history, a sizeable share of the population voted for religious parties. Some Pakistanis, and most Western analysts, interpret this as signaling the rise of a major fundamentalist religious movement. We suggest, however, that in large part, this phenomenon can be viewed as a protest vote, made as a rebuke to the major political parties, which have failed so far to provide any solutions to Pakistan's poverty and misery. This article examines the viewpoints of various analysts, representing various schools of thought in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]