SMCM - Center for Study of Democracy: Roundtable and Discussion of Pakistan’s Political Parties: Surviving between Dictatorship and Democracy

The Center for the Study of Democracy and the Department of Political Science at St. Mary's College of Maryland are pleased to present a virtual roundtable and discussion of Professor Sahar Shafqat’s co-edited book publication, Pakistan’s Political Parties: Surviving between Dictatorship and Democracy.

Join Professor Shafqat and coauthors Mariam Mufti and Niloufer Siddiqui as they discuss this one-of-a-kind resource for diplomats, policymakers, journalists, and scholars searching for a comprehensive overview of Pakistan's party system and its unlikely survival against an interventionist military, with insights that extend far beyond the region.

According to the authors, Pakistan's 2018 general elections marked the second successful transfer of power from one elected civilian government to another—a remarkable achievement considering the country's history of dictatorial rule. Pakistan's Political Parties examines how the civilian side of the state's current regime has survived the transition to democracy, providing critical insight into the evolution of political parties in Pakistan and their role in developing democracies in general.

Sahar Shafqat is a professor of political science at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Mariam Mufti is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Waterloo. Niloufer Siddiqui is an assistant professor of political science at the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at University at Albany, State University of New York.