Crafty oligarchs, savvy voters : democracy under inequality in rural Pakistan / Shandana Khan Mohmand.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mohmand, Shandana Khan, author.

Contributor:

Ellis D. Williams, College 1865, Endowment Fund.

Series:

South Asia in the social sciences ; 10.

South Asia in the social sciences ; 10

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Pakistan--Politics and government.

Pakistan.

Voting--Pakistan--Pāṭa.

Voting.

Political participation--Pakistan--Pāṭa.

Political participation.

Equality--Pakistan--Pāṭa.

Equality.

Democracy--Pakistan--Pāṭa.

Democracy.

Politics and government.

Physical Description:

xvii, 298 pages : illustrations (black and white) ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2019.

Summary:

"This book uses rich primary research to develop innovative measures of political engagement that capture considerable diversity in the voting behaviour of rural citizens, and show how they are exploiting political spaces that are opening up as a result of social and economic change. While these changes have allowed poorer rural voters to gain some strategic advantage vis-à-vis their landlords, they have not yet contributed substantially to the creation of broad constituencies of support for Pakistan's political parties due to the existence of an alternate local political institution - the village level vote bloc. Landed elites organise vote blocs to control village politics, while voters use them to advance their political interests strategically. This makes vote blocs inherently unstable political institutions as both leaders and voters change their behaviour and strategies over time - reacting to one another and to socio-economic changes - and cause shifts to occur in the organisation of rural politics"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction : rural voters under inequality in an emerging democracy

Colonial constructs and post-colonial politics, 1849-2018

Landed power in Sahiwal : from domination to intermediation

Local competition and bargaining power : conceptualising political engagement in rural Punjab

Bargaining with landlords : comparing political engagement in unequal contexts

Structural inequality and variations in political engagement

When do shifts in political engagement cccur?

Conclusion : the future of Pakistan's democracy.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 277-291) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Ellis D. Williams, College 1865, Endowment Fund.

ISBN:

9781108473637

1108473636

OCLC:

1101585668