Genesis of Civil-Bureaucratic Enclave in the 20th Century Pakistan

Abstract

Civil bureaucracy was introduced by the British Raj in India to administer the empire.
The cultural composition of the intstitution allowed it to emerge as a tool to serve the
interests of the Empire during colonial era and become a determining factor in deciding
the political fate of the post-colonial states after the partition. This papers overviews
the genesis and evolution of the dominant role of civil bureaucracy of Pakistan, where it
turned out to be a major authoritarian enclave, hampering Pakistan’s journey to a
smooth functioning democratic polity. The central question dealt in this paper is; How
civil-bureaucracy retained its power entact in the post-colonial political setup? The
study is significant for the students of democracy in the post-colonial socieites. This
study is based on secondry sources whilevarious perspectives on the role, position and
strategies adopted by the top bureaucrats to influence political processes are critically
analyzed.