Civil Society, Democratic Governance and Development: The Case of Pakistan

Abstract

The civil society in Pakistan largely comprises NGOs, professional organizations and trade unions. The number of NGOs has been steadily rising in Pakistan, but the boom came in the 1980s. The performance of the NGOs has been commended as well as condemned. NGOs have been trying to ensure good governance, despite many problems inherent in the sector itself, emerging from their dependence on donors, internal management, lack of trust of the people, and political pressures. The government-NGOs relations have been strained at times. Other components of the civil society have been active only occasionally. On the whole the civil society in Pakistan has remained a weak entity if compared with other countries of South Asia. Therefore, it’s most significant area of operation – ensuring democracy – has also been deficient. The weakness of both the civil society and democracy has been deep-rooted. The paper is aimed at analyzing the interface among the major issues of social development, and limitations of the civil society organizations. This paper is based on primary data collected about role of the NGOs, from the NGO functionaries and social experts, along with using secondary sources about the role of civil society as a whole. –––––––––