Assessing the Pakistan Peoples Party’s Reconciliation Paradigm and Impact on the political culture of Pakistan (2008-2018)

Abstract

This article is an analysis of how the politics of reconciliation as practiced by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) influenced the political culture of Pakistan in the years 2008-2018, during which Pakistan witnessed the end of military-led governance in favor of sustained civilian governance and democratic changes. It triangulates documentary evidence of reconciliation initiatives such as the National Reconciliation Ordinance, 18th Amendment, center-province accommodation such as the Aghaz-e-Huqooq-e-Balochistan package, welfare expansion, and civic space using a qualitative-historical case study based on thesis research and interview-based enquiry, and triangulates with institutional and rights indicators and theory-directed analysis using the reconciliation framework of Lederach and the civic culture model of Almond and Verba. The results show process changes such as elite consensus-building, constitutionalism, and parliamentary continuity, and little in terms of accountability, tolerance, and citizen trust. The transformation was limited by impunity, civil-military imbalance, clientelism, and information disorder.