The Democratic process is the process through which people elect their representatives after a certain period through publically-held elections. The victory in elections of a political group or party results in the formation of a government. This democratic process may or may not be able to provide the basic necessities of life to the citizens, however, it forms the basis for the transition of government from one political party or group to another political party or group. The level of maturity in the political process varies from country to country. In some countries, democratic institutions are well-groomed and hence provide the necessary political stability whereas in other countries the democratic system has not evolved, and hence those countries mostly suffer from political turmoil. The continuity and stability of the political process resulted in the evolution of a culture known as the democratic culture.

The democratic culture does not mean the mere continuation of electoral politics in a country rather it proves very beneficial for the general public at the grass-root level. The fate of the political parties functioning in a democratically civilized society does not revolve around a particular family or a group of people. All races, religions, and genders are free to participate and attain high positions in the political hierarchy according to their sincerity with the cause and their leadership skills. Political parties are also responsible for publishing manifestos mentioning in detail how they will deal with the problems once they come into power. The representatives of the political parties also convey their message to the public through electronic media, print media, and public canvassing. In stable democracies, ordinary people have good political sense and knowledge of contemporary issues. Thus they can judge from the manifesto, and the leadership of a political party that how sincere is that particular party with the masses. The educated public is ready to reject and give the opportunity of governance to another political party in case the political party fails to deliver.

The other thing which is worth mentioning is the formation of shadow cabinets and the framing of the policies by the political parties that they would follow after coming into power. Political parties follow the "right man for the right job" policy and people are trained on how to run their ministries in case they come into power. Each and every candidate knows the problems of the general masses and usually has a clear mind on how to deal with the situation. In democratically civilized societies, elections are held in a free and fair environment without any political intervention and political parties on the losing side admit the victory of their opponents. No post-election protests or sloganeering takes place in such societies. The political leadership remains in contact with their voters and the public even after their election to assembly and high posts.

Cultured democracy results in freedom, equality, and justice for all. No one is put behind bars or is restricted in his free will or free speech. Though everyone has the freedom to express views, no one is allowed to use abusive language against the leaders or religious figures of a community, and none is barred from his religious practices or ceremonies. The state delivers justice to all the sections of the society irrespective of their caste, religious affiliation, race, and economic condition and no one is considered above the law. The state does not promote any racial, religious, or gender discrimination; instead, it deals with an iron hand with those elements which are involved in activities breaking the rules of the state. As the fourth Caliph of Islam Hazrat Ali said,' No government can run a state without justice". Quran stress consultation while deciding matters of governance but in the view of Islam the true Islamic State is the one which not only elects rulers through people's will but the state also delivers to the people.

Democratically tolerant societies have free electronic and print media. The media is free from any political or governmental pressure and points out the wrongdoings of the political leadership and problems related to the public. They are not rendered to any restrictions or prohibition if they act within the ambit of law and free to expose corruption or immoral acts of the ruling class. Apart from the media, civil society, and NGOs (Non-governmental organizations) also play a very active role in highlighting issues related to the public interest. The government also gets valuable inputs from policy organizations, thinkers, and intelligentsia to solve people’s problems.

In Pakistan, our elite has not allowed this democratic culture to develop and become ripe with time because of the frequent military coups and interventions in the civilian sphere and confrontations between political rivals. The history of Pakistan shows us that we have experienced four military takeovers in 1958, 1970, 1978, and in 1999 excluding the period in which the military used to call shots from the backseat. This has more to do with the civilian incompetence and inability than with the army hegemony because the military has come to fill the gap left void by the civilians in their political infraction. The decade-long political uncertainty and non-serious of the political elite resulted in the military takeover in 1958. Almost the same was the situation in 1978 and 1999 when political governments were overthrown. In the 1990s two political parties fought each other on the political turf and helped non-democratic sections in their bid to get held off the civilian governments. In 1970 Army General Ayub Khan handed over the reins of power to his other comrade General Yahya Khan. His tenure resulted in the collapse of the country.

The problem with our democratic system is the hegemony of a few families over the political parties. Almost all the mainstream political parties revolve around one person or another. The father is succeeded by his son and his son then succeeds him and this cycle goes on. These influential people never allow young blood to come to the top to deal with the crisis faced by the country. The manifestos published by the political parties merely become pieces of paper, which no one studies due to the lack of political awareness and illiteracy. Half of our population is illiterate and even most in the remaining 50 percent do not focus much on the issues surrounding us.  Political parties also don’t accept the results in case their opponents win.

Most of the candidates use to be illiterate and do not have the vision and will to solve problems of the masses. On top of that, a significant chunk of candidates tends to be from the elite class and landlord families. They don’t have any knowledge about the problems faced by the poor but somehow elect themselves through the baradari system and financial resources. However, if the big landlords find it difficult to get elect themselves through general elections, they adopt an alternative way of rigging the elections by bribing police and other relevant institutions which can impact the elections. Expecting sincere efforts from such people who have no knowledge of the problems faced by the public at the grass-root level that they will solve problems related to the public will be a mere dream or illusion.

In Pakistan, the state does not provide the environment for the public to enjoy freedom, liberty, equality, and justice. The government imposes restrictions on the right of free speech and the right to identify issues from time to time. Some of our popular private media houses are also under the influence of several influential people or political parties, and thus they present biased views. The unbiased sections of our media are still immature and will need time to evolve according to the situation. Media also receives threats from certain sections of society if they report issues that can dent the reputation of those sections. The views of civil society and intelligentsia and opposition are not given the importance they required in the wake of constitutional legislation and policy framing. Legislations take place mostly behind closed doors.

To develop a democratic culture and to cope with political instability we need some reforms in our system of governance and way of politics. First of all, we need to educate our nation about political happenings in the country and across the globe. This will help raise political awareness in short terms. The political awareness in illiterate people will help us temporarily, but we need to educate our children right from the start to produce critical and politically-aware minds. This will also contribute to breaking the hegemony of a few families on the political sphere of Pakistan.  More educated people mean that more people will thoroughly study the election manifestos of the political parties and will educate other people too about contemporary issues. More educated young minds will join electoral politics and as a result, a change in the governance structure will come sooner or later.

We need a system that filters corruption-free and transparent leadership from the corrupt political lot. This system should also provide a rig-free election environment where every person can cast a vote to whichever political party he wants to. The political leadership should also be made responsible to accept the results of the election held under such a transparent system and should not be allowed to hold violent protests in the aftermath of elections. The elected representatives should also be in constant contact with the public, the community leaders, and prominent personalities in the society which can help them guide towards the solution of issues.

The government should also protect the fundamental rights of human beings. No one should be allowed to usurp freedom of speech, freedom of action, and freedom of formation of political groups and unions. Each and every citizen should be treated with equality irrespective of caste, creed, culture, religion, etc. Women should also be given equal opportunities and they should not be hindered from taking part in the political process. Free and timely justice should be provided by the state to its citizens, and no one should be given the right to snatch away the rights of the poor sections of the society. No one should be allowed to force someone to change his religion or beliefs.

Vibrant media and a vibrant civil society are the order of the day for the evolution of the democratic process into a democratic culture. Media; both print and electronic should be allowed to work freely without any political or state pressure but under some norms and injunctions. There should be some rules and regulations for the media to put an end to the widespread sensationalism and the race of breaking news. Civil society should also play an active role in educating people and raising awareness among the public.

Civilian leadership should also play a much mature role while dealing with political issues. The government should consult opposition on all matters dealing with the public interest, and equal importance should be given to their views. The military leadership should also limit their role to what they were ought to. The speech of Quaid-e-Azam is a solution to all the problems in which he told that Army will obey the elected representatives. Last but not least, we as the citizens of Pakistan should also perform our duty of voting for honest people in general elections.

The onus now falls upon us whether we want our society to thrive as a real cultured democratic society or not. The answer surely is yes, but we need to give our democratic process some time to let it evolve into a stable and enduring governance system. The evolution with time will remove discrepancies and will bring a democratic culture that revolutions can never bring. Look at the democracies in the United States of America and the United Kingdom which produced fruitful results but after a lengthy evolutionary of decades and centuries.