Pakistan’s polycrisis – its economic volatility, political turbulence, social fragmentation, and institutional decay – has one common denominator: a breakdown of governance.

Decades of elite capture, politicisation and policy drift have hollowed out the architecture of the state; institutions now crumble in slow motion, unable to convert authority into service, law into justice or resources into public good. Governance, which should embody transparency, accountability, and responsiveness, has mutated into a machinery for opacity, control and mere survival.

Good governance is normally defined as the interaction of laws, institutions, processes, and leadership that channels public power in a manner that is transparent, participatory, accountable, rules-based, equitable and strategic. Its purpose is to use public authority and resources responsibly and fairly to secure rights, deliver services, promote sustainable development, and build trust. Six attributes capture that purpose: rule of law, accountability and integrity, transparency, responsiveness and effectiveness, participation and inclusion, equity and fairness. Pakistan falls short on all six.

Rule of law, the system’s foundation, is buckling. More than 2.4 million cases choke the courts. Legal redress is costly and slow; and selective enforcement lets power-holders evade consequences while ordinary citizens face endless delay. After the 26th Amendment, executive encroachment on judicial appointments has intensified scepticism about independence. Police forces remain politicised and undertrained, cementing a justice pyramid that burdens the weak and cushions the powerful.

Accountability and integrity exist largely on paper. Parliament’s Public Accounts Committees seldom complete inquiries, while the auditor general’s reports, already late, gather dust. Anti-corruption agencies such as NAB and FIA swing between inertia and selective zeal, pursuing headline cases while systemic abuse continues. Civil servants rarely face performance reviews tied to outcomes, and cabinet members almost never resign over failures.

Transparency is treated as a........

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