Most of us can perhaps easily recall the numerous lectures on the importance of building institutions for purposes of good governance, and democracy being the system best suited to deliver such institutions. In case you missed the boat on this debate, kindly refer to the variety of news channels on the idiot box and shortly some celebrity anchor or politician will argue the importance of institution building.
The irksome question that arises from this particular Institution building postulation is: which institutions are they talking about; because in the absence of specifics, as a nation we will keep running in circles, even if this view about institutions being that important turns out to be right. Albeit, another, and perhaps bigger, flaw in this debate is whether democracy comes first or the institutions, because seemingly we have failed on both counts. After ten years of democracy, even if we figure out which institutions were to be built, clearly not much has changed. And arguably, we haven't had much success in building institutions under dictatorship either, and therefore it may not be concluded that institutions brought in democracy. But while there is not empirical evidence to support the institution argument, on the face of it appears not to be irrational since great institutions are a hallmark of any developed nation.
So how do institutions get associated with a democracy?
"As an ideal, democracy aims essentially to preserve and promote the dignity and fundamental rights of the individual, to achieve social justice, foster the economic and social development of the community, strengthen the cohesion of society and enhance national tranquility, as well as to create a climate that is favorable for international peace. As a form of government, democracy is the best way of achieving these objectives; it is also the only political system that has the capacity for self-correction," Universal Declaration of Democracy. Picked up from the internet actually and without getting into any details of what this declaration is all about, undoubtedly these aims should be the priority of any political system and institutions critical in achieving such aims need to be and should be built.
But which institutions preserve and promote dignity and fundamental rights of individuals; in a nutshell the very ones which every Pakistani prays that he or she does not have to deal with. Frankly, dealing with public servants in any department is generally not an exhilarating experience so let's not isolate police, legal and health institutions. Social justice, cohesion of society and enhancement of national tranquility are not even on the horizon.
But forget the aims of democracy, critical for the success of democracy is universal education; people need to be aware of their rights and duties to be able to vote sensibly at the very least. And while there have been a lot of claims about increased spending on education over the years, the literacy rate, even if you accept the official number, is nothing to be proud about. Whilst we might have made progress quantitatively, we are surely lacking in qualitative education, even with over a hundred universities. Do we have any targets for literacy for the next five years and are we aware which institutions we need to focus on to achieve such targets? Frankly do we really want to educate the masses or are we happy with the way they are?!
Narrowing the debate to institutions that foster economic growth, the primary question once again is which institutions? Necessarily, they are institutions that establish and protect property rights, facilitate transactions by enforcing contracts and permit economic cooperation and organization. While there is a lot of activity around encroachments and getting back public lands, what about forcible appropriation of private lands? And we are not exactly doing very well at enforcement of contracts either. Finally, if anything, our institutions seemingly ensure that more and more economic activity migrates to the informal sector. And essentially, the tax policies ensure that jobs are exported as more and more goods are imported rather than manufactured domestically.
That economic activity exists despite institutional hurdles is in itself a miracle, might not be a very farfetched observation.
Personally, in the short-term, one is more supportive of plumber economics, stopping leakages that drain the economy. Building institutions is a medium to long-term objective; frankly, we have missed that boat for more than 70 years. However, if we are to make any progress on institutional building, we need to identify the priority institutions, diagnose their current shortcomings, envision their end or desired state, set five year targets with clearly defined periodic milestones, and carefully monitor the progress. And this entire plan should be made public for continued discourse. We need to have a clear path if we are at all serious about developing institutions.
(The writer is a chartered accountant based in Islamabad. He tweets as @Leaccountant)