704 TEORIJA IN PRAKSA
Akmal HUSSAIN 
PAKISTAN, INSTITUTIONAL 
INSTABILITY AND 
UNDERDEVELOPMENT: STATE, 
PEOPLE, AND CONSCIOUSNESS
London: Folio Books, 2023,
pp. 372; 38,31 EUR
(ISBN: 978-969-7834-52-5)
The book »Pakistan, Institutional 
Instability and Underdevelopment: 
State, People, and Consciousness” 
was published by Folio Books in April 
2023. The author Akmal Hussain is a 
renowned economist, writer and pro-
fessor. He has written several books 
and journals on economic develop-
ment, public policy etc. In the reviewed 
book, he explains why Pakistan has 
continuously struggled with fragile 
government institutions and slow eco-
nomic growth. He describes how his-
tory and other factors have shaped the 
way the country is run and how both 
the economy and society function. His 
work presents an extensive analytical 
study of the weak institutions, reasons 
and factors behind such circumstances, 
and its impact on the country’s devel-
opment. In this review, the focus is on 
Hussain’s explanation of the core chal-
lenges Pakistan has faced as an inde-
pendent country. However, the book 
also discusses the important role of 
the public for the development of any 
country, there is no doubt that power-
ful and independent institutions are 
a requisite for a strong political setup 
while it cannot be denied that political 
and social awareness makes political 
structure strong when people can raise 
questions on right and wrong. Hussain 
argues Pakistan’s problems are not new 
but long-term, extending back to when 
the country attained its independence 
in 1947. His view is that these problems 
are not due to a weak economy and 
economic policies and the key issue is 
instead the country’s institutions (gov-
ernment, legal system, economy etc.) 
that were not developed and managed 
properly from the outset. In turn, the 
country has encountered political in-
stability and fallen behind in making 
progress. Although apparently a demo-
cratic system had been introduced in 
Pakistan after its independence from 
the British colonial system in 1947 but 
unfortunately the power remained in 
the hands of few. The military directly 
ruled the country for several years, also 
influencing the democratic setup from 
behind the scenes. Additionally cer-
tain elites such as influential political 
leaders, bureaucrates, influential ad-
visors , ministers and powerful fuedual 
families have had an impact as well on 
Pakistan’s democratic system where 
they dominate public opinion and con-
trol national interests. The country’s 
political institutions have accordingly 
had no space to grow and been un-
able to provide stability and progress. 
Weak governance has been a further 
element, with long-term policies being 
abandoned that otherwise would have 
helped the country become more eco-
nomically and institutionally stable.
In addition, Hussain describes how 
the Pakistani public has lost interest in 
the institutions, and weak governance, 
inconsistent policies, political leaders 
not meeting their promises, and one-
sided policies that support the elites 
and neglect the masses have been the 

705 • let. 62, 3/2025
major factors explaining the public’s 
lack of trust.
He believes that after Pakistan’s in-
dependence the country’s biggest in-
stitutions continued to be influenced 
by the British Empire. The powerful 
role of the bureaucracy in shaping 
Pakistani politics remained unchal-
lenged. The Pakistani political system 
was subjected to the power of bureau-
crats’ decisions, whereas the role of the 
common man was completely ignored. 
For decades, the ongoing political in-
stability, frequent changes in govern-
ment, and lack of consistent policies 
and proper planning have pushed the 
country into a weaker situation. Hus-
sain states that while Pakistan pos-
sesses rich natural resources, its polit-
ical leaders have not focused on the 
country’s progress and stability and 
typically taken decisions in their own 
interests or those of particular groups; 
again making the country more fragile. 
The absence of a system of accountab-
ility has seen corruption develop in 
all institutions. The weak legislation 
has been unable to ensure law and or-
der. As a result, Pakistan has struggled 
with poor governance, namely, a pre-
condition for long-term growth and 
prosperity. Rather than concentrating 
on stability and progress, leaders have 
often made short-term decisions to the 
benefit of a few powerful groups, not 
the whole country. They have managed 
to get their grips on everything includ-
ing all institutions, economic policies, 
under control so the whole system can 
easily work in their favour, fiving be-
nefits to their persons of choice rather 
than broad public welfare programmes 
for everyone. The unequal distribution 
of power and wealth is today the biggest 
obstacle to the country’s economic de-
velopment and has seen it become ever 
more fragile.
The author  looks at the Pakistani 
economy and determines that instead 
of being strong and independent it ap-
pears to seek out foreign aid. Although 
Pakistan is rich in natural resources and 
could have a strong economic structure 
in place, powerful elites either ifluen-
tial political parties, fuedal lords, army 
generals, bureaucracy directly influ-
enced the overall system of Pakistan’s 
political setup since its independence. 
No focus has been given to formulat-
ing long-term economic policies that 
would assure a strong economic infra-
structure. This explains why the coun-
try always needs support from external 
financial organisations or countries to 
manage the weak economy. The out-
come is that most of the population 
does not see any overall economic pro-
gress and is aware that it depends con-
siderably on foreign aid rather than a 
strong and self-sufficient system. The 
unequal distribution of wealth and op-
portunities continue to be available to 
only a few while the majority has lived 
hand to mouth. He is critical of the eco-
nomic policies that have failed to bring 
countrywide prosperity and calls for a 
model that brings development for the 
common people, improves their life-
style, and is shared equally across the 
entire country.
He highlights that it is essential to 
raise the awareness of Pakistani people 
to bring positive change. The author 
labels the word”consciousness in the 
book title Pakistan, Institutional In-
stability and Underdevelopment: State, 

706 TEORIJA IN PRAKSA
People, and Consciousness, to refer 
about the awareness that citizens have 
for their state country & it’s system 
where the government does not work to 
improve the lives of its citizens, people 
lose interest in the government. They 
do not feel a connection with it. Such a 
situation adds to feelings of restlessness 
across the country. People often display 
violent behaviour and adopt illegal ways 
to survive. According to Hussain, de-
velopment does not simply mean insti-
tutional and economic development but 
also that the people show interest and 
support the government; their mind-
set should be positive and supportive, 
and this only happens when the public 
is aware that the government in power 
is bringing social welfare and making 
things easier for them, which regrettably 
is not the case. The long history of poor 
governance has led to the people having 
a weak connection with the state. Hus-
sain states that identity issues since the 
country’s independence are also a crit-
ical factor in why people do not show 
unity. Identity politics is a large hurdle 
that limits the public’s political interest 
and engagement with the system. In-
stead of blaming any single department, 
the author states the whole system is 
responsible for the underdevelopment 
icluding judiciary, parliament, political 
parties, leaders and every influential en-
tity that directly or indirectly use power 
to manipulate instituitions to work for 
their own agendas.
In the reviewed book, Hussain 
provides valuable suggestions for im-
proving issues like the poor governance 
and shattered economic circumstances. 
He insists that Pakistan should stick to 
clear-cut policies to strengthen demo-
cracy, making government institutions 
more transparent and corruption-free, 
ensuring equal power distribution, and 
sharing power between the federal and 
provincial governments , allowing the 
local government to interact directly 
with public opinion than keeping it in 
the hands centre run by political elites. 
He adds the economic policies should 
not only benefit the rich and powerful 
but focus on improving the lives of or-
dinary people by promoting local busi-
nesses, creating jobs, and assuring a 
fair distribution of resources. His book 
offers sound advice for both govern-
ment officials and researchers looking 
for long-term solutions to Pakistan’s 
political and economic challenges.
The author  wrote this book after 
undertaking extensive research, going 
through historical analysis and eco-
nomic theories in depth. It is a useful 
reference for anyone who wants to un-
derstand the true causes of the fragile 
state of Pakistan. Taking an interdis-
ciplinary approach, Hussain connects 
economics, political science, and so-
ciology to provide a well-rounded ex-
planation of the country’s ongoing 
challenges. Despite the book being 
written in a scholarly way, anyone can 
easily understand the socioeconomic 
challenges facing Pakistan. This makes 
it not only a good resource for polit-
ical scientists and policymakers but it 
also thoroughly informs students and 
general readers interested in discover-
ing the political, social and economic 
problems of Pakistan, in particular the 
country’s political underdevelopment. 
The  book is not without criticism 
however. It does not include real-life 
case studies to support the theoretical 

707 • let. 62, 3/2025
arguments. Adding case studies from 
Pakistan or similar countries could 
have demonstrated how the proposed 
solutions might work in practice. It 
would also have been fruitful to include 
countries that have survived similar 
difficulties, and the way they overcame 
those obstacles so as to help readers 
better understand the issues and re-
forms. Even though the book explains 
in detail the key causes of the country’s 
problems, he may be criticised for leav-
ing out an important part containing a 
few possible reforms as how to awake 
the conciousness and through which 
means; moral reforms, civic educa-
tion or political activism and should 
be through media, leadership or by 
countrywide campaigns. While pub-
lic awareness is clearly an important 
factor, but change is not easy to bring 
until or unless the power has been de-
centrilised and every insitution can 
work independtly for national interests 
without getting influenced by interfer-
ence of any powerful circle. Further, 
Hussain does not explain well which 
type of political awareness is needed 
and In brief, “Pakistan, Institutional 
Instability, and Underdevelopment: 
State, People, and Consciousness” is 
an important and thought-provoking 
work that sheds light on Pakistan’s poor 
governance and economic failures. The 
book explains why Pakistan faces polit-
ical and economic challenges today. 
Hussain presents critical analysis of the 
country’s institutional weaknesses and 
tried his best to present the root causes 
of country’s weak political structure. 
The book is especially valuable for 
political science students, scholars of 
South Asian politics, policymakers, 
and anyone interested in understand-
ing the root causes of Pakistan’s polit-
ical and economic struggles.
Hirra ROOMAAN