[ Book Review ] Governing the Ungovernable by Ishrat Hussain
1) Introduction:
Governing the Ungovernable is a masterpiece written by Dr. Ishrat Hussain. The book gives insights about the overall governance structure of Pakistan by comparing the contemporary governance structure to that of last century’s. Author gives empirical data to support his arguments when he tries to bust some popular myths including the popular notion of military regimes have received more foreign aid then their civilian counterparts. Overall, this book focuses on the factors that have been instrumental in crippling the economy, social fabric and international prestige of the state of Pakistan in post 9/11 era. All in all, this book is a must read for many linked to the academia, civil society and, of course, the policymakers of Pakistan. In this book summary, I will give some striking quotations from the book, its main theme along with its justification for how this book actually makes sense and lastly will enlist the myths debunked by this book.
2) Quotations or the Arguments:
“The governance system Pakistan inherited from British colonial rule is not only outdated but has deteriorated over time. Pakistan failed to transform from a conventional colonial bureaucracy to a creative one.”
“Poor performance of the education and health sector isn’t due to lower allocation of budget, but because of poor governance”
“It’s the governance and not foreign aid that is the greatest determinant of an economic turnaround”
“The combined budget of the health and education sector as a ratio of GDP is now higher than the military budget -to-GDP ratio.”
“It’s a myth that Pakistan is a garrison state and needs to spare budget from the military.”
(Book: Governing the Ungovernable)
3) Theme of This Book
Pakistan was among Asian Tigers. It was leading all of its neighbors in almost every socio-economic indicator. Whereas, Pakistan of today is struggling in all those very same indicators to which it was once leading its peer competitors. This tragedy has happened only because of the crisis of good governance.
How has this Happened? Why Pakistan is witnessed to have Crisis of Good Governance?
This tragedy with Pakistan is because of the lack of competent, an independent, and politically neutral bureaucracy. Pakistan upon its creation had inherited a competent bureaucracy that not only made sure the impressively high growth rate but also managed to sustain it for up to 1980s despite many odds. Since its inception, Pakistan had faced odds like rehabilitation of almost 8 million refugees, twelve years dictatorship, debacle of Dhaka, nationalization of key sectors of economy, Islamization of Zia regime and Afghan jihad of 1980s. However, despite all these humongous challenges, Pakistan was able to manage growth rate throughout these years and all this was because of competent and independent bureaucracy.
Whereas, bureaucracy of today is politicized and largely incompetent. And its path towards hell was paved by the Bhutto regime in 1970s, when he removed the constitutional guarantees to the bureaucrats, used political institutions for his own selfish self interests, and nationalized the then thriving private industries.
4) Several Myths Busted:
1) The popular fallacy that the economy of Pakistan has suffered mainly due to its decision of joining US-led war on terror and its ensuing fallout. The author, however, doesn’t agrees to this notion, and he argues that the economic decline had started in the early 1990s- well before the country got embroiled in the war against terror. Furthermore, he contends, that between the period of unrest from 2002 to 2008, the growth rate touched 6 to 7 percent on average and the investment-to- GDP ratio peaked at 23 percentage.
2) Another popular myth that the generous foreign assistance has been the principal determinant of Pakistan’s economic success in military regimes is also incorrect. He explains with empirical data that the country has received more foreign aid during the elected governments period and yet those governments failed to boost the economic growth rate.
3) While refuting to another popular narrative that the US in particular and West in general has supported military regimes at the expense of elected ones, the author argues that US has imposed sanctions on the military dictators let alone supporting them at the expense of civilians. With this notion, of course, author highlights the sanctions on Pakistan after 1965 war, 1971 war and separation of East Pakistan and during the earlier days of Zia regime and Musharraf regime.
4) And lastly, the popular misconception that Pakistan’s poor economic performance is because of its ‘Garrison State Syndrome,’ is also a fallacy. As the ratio of defense budget to GDP was high in the first 40 years, and is now 2.9 percent of GDP (FY2016), of the creation of Pakistan. However, the combined allocations for health and education as a ratio of GDP was 3.7 percent in the same fiscal year.
4- Conclusion
The book is an eyeopener for the many who just believe in the popular misconceptions or even propagate those notions. It’s is a must read for those in charge of bureaucratic responsibilities as it not only gives insights about the past but also explains and illustrates with empirical data, the ills in the governance system. Therefore, the book will be of much help for academia also to initiate a comprehensive debate on how to avert this mother of other crises.
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