Changing Patterns of Local Government System in Pakistan: Analysis of Post 18th Amendment Challenges

Abstract

The Local Government system working in the Pakistani’s political and administrative structure was actually inherited from the British colonial system. Ironically, being a democratic country, much of the period of Local Government system has remained under different military regimes that set the tone for organizing Local Government institutions in the country. However, all the military regimes have tried to place an authoritarian rule by limiting public participation and administered the country through the non-representative entities such as bureaucracy. On the other hand, the elected civilian government did nothing to strengthen local government institutions by failing to provide political and economic amenities to ensure empowerment of people at grass-root level. The study comparatively analyzes LG systems under both military and civilian rules and discusses the issues during these historical moments. This paper mainly focuses on the analysis of the post 18th Amendment issues and challenges which are hindering provinces to strengthen local government system. Exploratory and analytical methods have been employed with discourse analysis for clarity and understanding.