PAKISTAN was born through a political movement, not through the inheritance of a throne. Its founding struggle mobilised lawyers, students, workers, intellectuals, traders and ordinary citizens around a political idea. Yet, nearly eight decades later, one of the uncomfortable questions confronting our democracy is remarkably simple: when did political leadership begin to resemble a family inheritance?

This is not a question about one political party or one family. Nor would it be fair to suggest that dynastic politics is peculiar to Pakistan. Political families have appeared in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the United States and several other democracies. Family background, by itself, does not disqualify anyone from public service. A politician’s son or daughter has precisely the same democratic right to enter politics as the child of a teacher, farmer or shopkeeper. The problem begins when the right to participate quietly turns into an assumed right to succeed.

Pakistan’s political history has been complicated from its earliest years. Weak democratic institutions, interruptions of constitutional government, centralisation of authority and repeated struggles among institutions prevented political parties from developing as stable democratic organisations. Over time, personalities frequently........

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