Civil Society and Pakistan's Economy

Robber Barons and Meritocracy

Fayyaz Baqir, Fayyaz Baqir

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2023
• ISBN:
  9781000853865
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Ciencias sociales
• Subtopic: Estudios étnicos

This book analyses the paradoxes of Pakistan's economy, meritocratic domestic policy, and the role of the state and the civil society. It argues that the transition in the county's foreign policy from geo-politics to geo-economic depends on a fundamental domestic policy transition from kleptocracy to meritocracy.

Civil Society and Pakistan's Economy discusses how the prevalence of rent-seeking practices has undermined merit-based practices by increasing the cost of doing business and converting public loss into private profit by awarding inappropriate subsidies and imposing regressive taxes. The analyses are supported by describing the instruments and mechanisms used for rent-seeking practices and the creation of public awareness of options available to change these practices through citizen's action and civil society engagement. The book also shows the path of transformation and the role of participation and argues that aspiring for and capturing power is not the only way to transform Pakistan.

A novel analysis depicting macro-micro linkages of encroachment of socio-economic space by the power elites and effective strategies used for its reappropriation by the people, the book will be of interest to academics researching South Asian Studies, in particular South Asian economics and politics.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half-Title Page
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• List of Tables
• List of Contributors
• Preface
• Introduction: Civil Society and Pakistan's Economy: Robber Barons, Civil Society, and Meritocracy in Pakistan
• 1 Economic Vision of Pakistani Elites and Transition from Patronage to Participatory Practices
• 2 Politics of Constitution Making in Pakistan: Why Religion and Authoritarianism are Hands in Glove?
• 3 Development and Planning Administration: Where Checks and Balance Fail?
• 4 Management of Resources and Revenues: Transformation or Regression?
• 5 Incidence of Taxes: Who Bears How Much Burden?
• 6 Pakistan's Achilles' Heel: Under Allocation, Underspending or Underperformance?
• 7 Feminist Discourse and Rent Seeking Under Patriarchy
• 8 Non-profit Sector and Informal Economy: Entrepreneurial Spirit in Action
• 9 Digital Economy, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation
• 10 Globalization, Global Jihad, and Civil Society
• 11 Limitations of Political Discourse
• Index