Characteristics of Political Development

Considerable confusion exists over the concept of political development, which is of recent
origin in political science. The confusion is compounded because particular trends in the
social sciences inhibited explicit concern about political, as distinct from economic
development. Ten definitions of political development are analyzed in this article, and a final
summary view of the essential dimensions of the concept is presented in which three broadly
shared characteristics are generally related to certain aspects of political development;
equality to the political culture, the problems of capacity to authoritative governmental
structures, and a questions of differentiation to non authoritative structures. This suggests a
final analysis that the problems of political development revolve around the relationship
between the political culture, the authoritative structure, and the general political process.

Equality

Various approaches accept that spirit or attitude of equality is an aspect of political

It also involves the concept of equal and objective application of laws to all citizens i.e. rule
of law involving application of all laws to all the citizens rich and poor, and strong and weak.
It also includes the concept of political recruitment based on merit and performance, and not
on a scriptive consideration.

The equality means that recruitment to political office should reflect achievement standards
of performance. The assumption in a developed political system is that people must have
displayed appropriate merit to gain public office and that officeholders should have met some
competitive test of competence.

Types of equality

Natural equality

Human differ in respect of their physical features, psychological traits, mental abilities and
capacities, all humans are to be treated as equal humans. All are to be considered to avail all
human rights and freedoms.
Social equality

Social equality is referred as equal rights and opportunities for development for all classes of
people without any discrimination such as civil rights, freedom of speech, property rights,
and equal access to social goods and services.

Civil equality

It is elaborated as the grant of equal rights and freedoms to all the people and social groups.
All the people are to be treated equal before law. Civil liberty comprises of the enjoyment of
similar civil liberties and civil rights by all the citizens.

Political equality

It is referred as equal opportunities for participation of all in the political process. This
involves the concept of grant political rights for all the citizens with some uniform
qualifications for everyone.

Economic equality

Economic equality is closely associated to political equality. Professor Laski stated the
immense significance of economic equality.

“Political equality is never real unless, it is accompanied with virtual economic liberty,
political power”

Legal equality

Legal equality is defined as equality before law, equal subjection of all to the same legal code
and equal opportunity for all to secure legal projection of their rights and freedom. There
should rule of law and laws must be equality must be ensured in all these forms.

Equality of opportunity and education

Equality of opportunity and education means that all the citizens should be given equal and
similar opportunities by the state. All the individuals should have similar chances to receive
education. They should have similar opportunities to develop their personality.
Capacity

Capacity of a political system is again a theme held by most of the above approaches and it
refers to the capacity of a political system to affect the social and economic life of the society
through its outputs.

This aspect of development includes the idea of political development analysed in terms of
governmental capacity and the conditions that affect such performance. It also means
political development in terms of effectiveness and efficiency in the execution of public
policy, rationality in administration and a secular orientation towards policy.

The capacity is related to rationality in administration and secular orientation toward policy.
Government’s actions are guided more by deliberations and justifications that seek to relate
ends and means in a

Differentiation and Specialisation:

Systematic manner from which planning becomes possible. This theme conceptualises
political development in terms of structural differentiation and specialisation. “This aspect of
development involves first of all the differentiation and specialisation of structures. Offices
and agencies tend to have their distinct and limited functions and there is an equivalent of a
division of labour within the realm of government.”

Along with differentiation, there is increased functional specialisation of various roles within
the system and it also involves the integration of complex structures and processes. The last
aspect is very important because it clarifies that differentiation is not fragmentation, on the
other hand, it means specialisation based on an ultimate ense of integration.

Among these three dimensions, there can be present several acute tensions between the
demands for equality, the requirements of capacity and the process of greater differentiation
and accordingly there are different patterns to political development. However, these three
constitute the agreed variables for analysing the nature and level of political development. It
also means that “Development is dearly not unilinear nor it is governed by sharp and distinct
stages, but rather by a range of problems that they may arise separately or concurrently.”
Study of political development requires, besides these three dimensions of equality, capacity
and differentiation, three other related factors. As Pye observes, “the problems of equality are
generally related to the political culture and sentiments about legitimacy and commitment to
the system; the problems of capacity are generally related to the performance of the
authoritative structures of government; and the question of differentiation touches mainly on
the performance of non-authoritative structures and the general process in the society at
large.”
Conclusion

The structure and functioning of the elected Government is discussed to assess the political
institutionalization in terms of political development. Socioeconomic development level
increases the prospects for civilian rule, and institutionalization strengthens the political
system. Study shows that political institutionalization and socio-economic development was
not the priority of the Government. Political parties not seem serious to become a credible
alternate to the ruling party and continued to hold the Government responsible for every
failure. Their mutual antipathy and disrespect of democratic norms and procedures continued
throughout the period. Contest between PPP and PML(N) for political power, however,
threatened to thwart the cause of political stability in Pakistan. Their tactics at times
threatened to derail the fragile democracy of Pakistan and distracted the Government from
addressing important issues of governance.
Reference

4 Coleman, James S., in Almond, Gabriel A. and Coleman, , eds., The Politics of the
Developing Areas (Princeton 1960),532Google Scholar; Fred W. Riggs, “Bureaucracy and

Political Development: A Paradoxical View,” in LaPalombara, ed., Bureaucracy and Political Development, 122;
Eisenstadt, in ibid., 99; Ward and Rustow, eds., Political Modernization, 7.

7 Frederick W. Frey, “Political Development, Power, and Communications in Turkey,” in Pye,