1. Like clockwork, #WeWantsPresidentialSystem is trending once again in Pakistan. The demand for a presidential system in Pakistan is not new, and has historically been linked to a desire for more a more autocratic form of governance.
2. It is not coincidental that Pakistan's previous experiences with presidential systems have taken place under dictatorships, and the narrative around them echoes arguments in support of authoritarianism; parliaments are inefficient and captured by vested interests, therefore...
3. What is required is a government headed by 'strong' leader empowered to take decisive action without being subject to the messy coonstraints imposed by parliament. Often, this demand is accompanied by a belief that such a leader could be assisted by handpicked 'technocrats'...
4. Possessing the expertise needed develop and deliver effective policy. This form of presidentialism is little more than a veneer for authoritarianism, with governance provided through largely unaccountable executive decision-making.
5. This is problematic on several levels. There is a reason why, historically, the United States is arguably the only successful presidential democracy and even there, as we see everyday, there is considerable evidence of dysfunction. Elsewhere, presidential systems tend to fail.
6. Why? Presidential systems concentrate power in too few hands, often prevent inclusive decision-making, tend to be bad at distributing resources equitably, are often difficult to dislodge when performing poorly, and can be subject to considerable legislative logjam.
7. Similar criticisms can also be made of majoritarian parliamentary systens but on the whole, parliamentary systems tend to be more accountable, inclusive, and equitable than the alternative.
8. Some might argue that better examples of 'presidential' systems can be found in China and South-East Asia. Here, the link made between presidentialism and authoritarianism in the Pakistani debate becomes more clear. Even so, there are many reasons why those examples...
9. Cannot be replicated in Pakistan. The histories and institutional trajectories of the SE Asian states are different from Pakistan's; the latter's relative lack of state capacity and presence of powerful rent-seeking elites impedes the emulation of the 'developmental' model.
10. Most importantly, Pakistan's previous experiences with presidentialism were disastrous. Pakistan's presidents presided over massive economic inequality and considerable social instability. They ultimately fell due to their inability to actually deliver good governance.
11. Pakistan's democracy is far from perfect but the solution does not lie in ditching it in favour of more authoritarianism. Democratic institutions and norms need time to develop. Authoritarian interventions and experiments only impeded this process.
