State of Democracy in South Asia: The Cases of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan

Abstract

Since the young South Asian states officially gained independence from colonial rule, democratic transitions were hampered namely by the entrenched authoritarian traditions, rise of Islamic fundamentalism, communal violence and endemic corruption. The proclamation by some analysts, possibly guided by a minimalistic definition of democracy, of a successful South Asian ‘new democratic wave’ may however overemphasise the technical criteria for holding elections while ignoring the threat of potential return to authoritarian patterns. Having this in mind, this chapter is assessing the state and the art of democratic processes in South Asia based on the cases Bangladesh, India and Pakistan; on their respective backslashes and hindrances; as well as factors which can help to entrench democracy. The analysis will focus mainly on the period which starts with the 2013 General Election in Pakistan, and will take into account the transitionary phase of the 2014 elections in Bangladesh and India as well as elaborate on the latest developments. It will be argued that just looking at the holding elections as indicator for successful democratic transition is misleading in the South Asian context. It neither gives a clear description of the status of fundamental rights, freedoms, quality of (democratic) good governance nor if the will of the people as supreme authority in a democracy is respected. In order to prove this rationale, the chapter will apply the concept of (liberal) ‘embedded democracy’ by Wolfgang Merkel.