Under the gun : political parties and violence in Pakistan / Niloufer A. Siddiqui.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Siddiqui, Niloufer, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Political parties--Pakistan.

Political parties.

Political violence--Pakistan.

Political violence.

Democracy--Pakistan.

Democracy.

Democratization--Pakistan.

Democratization.

Pakistan--Politics and government--1988-1999.

Pakistan.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvii, 272 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2023.

Summary:

Political parties are integral to democracy and yet they frequently engage in anti-democratic, violent behaviour. Parties can employ violence directly, outsource violence to gangs and militias, or form electoral alliances with non-state armed actors. When do parties engage in, or facilitate, violence? What determines the strategies of violence that they employ? Drawing on data from Pakistan, Under the Gun argues that party violence is not a simple manifestation of weak state capacity but instead the intentional product of political incentives, further complicating the process of democratization. Using a rigorous multi-method approach based on over a hundred interviews and numerous surveys, the book demonstrates that a party's violence strategy depends on the incentives it faces in the subnational political landscape in which it operates, the cost it incurs from its voters for violent acts, and its organizational capacity for violence.

Contents:

Introduction: Violence amid democracy

The logic of party violence

Setting the stage : violence, state capacity, and political representation in Pakistan

Who owns the guns? The Muttahida Qaumi Movement and violence in Karachi

The Pakistan People's Party and the gangs of Lyari, Karachi

Allying with militants : The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and sectarian groups in Punjab

An ideology of non-violence? The Awami National Party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Party violence in comparative perspective

Conclusion: Democracy amid violence.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 18 Nov 2022).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-009-24249-0

1-009-24251-2

1-009-24253-9