The state is a political entity that encompasses
all the institutions of the public realm to exercise authority within defined
territorial borders whereas government is merely part of the state. However,
the basic assumption is that the state functions in a manner to benefit the people
of the society.
Classical elite theorist, Michels, made strong claim
that “The history of all societies, past and future, is the history of its
ruling classes…there will always be a ruling class and therefore exploitation…”
The elites act as parasites and manipulate the masses using “political formulas”.
They pose to be truly working for
the well being of the citizens while in reality harnessing their authority for
personal gains. This makes it incumbent on the people of the state to construct
constitutional devices to make state accountable for its decisions. In short,
it means that a system should be devised that controls the power the state has
over its people and vice versa.
For smooth functioning of a state, power should be
divided between three branches –executive, legislative and judicial. These entities
will keep checks and balances on each other to build effective state
institutions.
5 comments:
I agree with what you're saying here, however we must ask ourselves, will this model work in Pakistan.
Our power structure is now established as one based on how rich or influential you are. It is the land owning classes that are ruling and have ruled Pakistan. We see it with the Bhuttos and with the Sharifs in particular. How often do you hear, that a layman won the elections from their constituency. With the PTI, we have seen the common man enter the corridors of power. But, this is a very small step in the larger game to change Pakistan's power structure.
I think there a few points worth highlighting.
First, I agree that some form of constitutional separation of powers is necessary. But in the Pakistan, the constitution has been changed multiple times and the meaning of the constitution itself has also shifted.
But does the division of power between executive, judicial, and legislative branches at the federal level make sense within a Pakistani context? Given the preponderant power that exists within parliament and the sclerotic nature of the judiciary, perhaps this division of power doesn't make as much sense in Pakistan.
So how can power be more justly distributed in the state and government? Perhaps , as implied by Arsalan's comment, it can only occur when power is devolved from the rich and shifted towards the people. But will this happen? This remains to be seen and your generation will decide the future of Pakistan.
I agree that a check must be kept on the system to make sure that the state is not being exploited to its disadvantage and to do this, power must be divided into the three categories mentioned.
However, these three branches already exist within the power structure of Pakistan, and from what we can evidently see there has not really been an improvement as far as abuse of power is concerned. if anything, it has further expanded into something impossible to contain.
I feel Pakistan as a state needs to reconstruct its legal structure as the first step. Unless there is a practical and undeniable punishment, the executive, legislature and the judiciary will keep exploiting their positions as actors of the state as a means of achieving personal benefits.
Good points, but reworking a judicial system from scratch typically only occurs during two periods of time in a state's history: independence and revolution. Given that we've already had the former and it is unlikely that the latter will happen anytime soon, we're stuck in a situation where the judicial system will just have to be reformed as it is. How to do that - and who should be tasked with doing this - is an open question.
Thank you for the informative points mentioned above. The power division method proposed has worked out for other countries, however, it might not be a viable solution for a country like Pakistan. But does that mean that the structure is flawed or is there something wrong with the citizens of the country?
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