Comments on: Research Highlight: A Study on the Influence of Education on Support for Democracy in Pakistan http://www.nextstepforward.net/general-pakistan/education-and-democracy/ Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:35:29 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: yaser http://www.nextstepforward.net/general-pakistan/education-and-democracy/comment-page-1/#comment-36 yaser Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:48:35 +0000 http://www.nextstepforward.net/?p=755#comment-36 Clarification: The point I wanted to make was that the IRI survey confirms that the low support for democracy was simply because the Musharraf regime was perceived as successful. Now that the regime is over, support for democracy has risen dramatically. Clarification: The point I wanted to make was that the IRI survey confirms that the low support for democracy was simply because the Musharraf regime was perceived as successful. Now that the regime is over, support for democracy has risen dramatically.

]]> By: bilal http://www.nextstepforward.net/general-pakistan/education-and-democracy/comment-page-1/#comment-34 bilal Mon, 08 Jun 2009 02:31:01 +0000 http://www.nextstepforward.net/?p=755#comment-34 Is education and economic reforms separable, when it comes to drivers for social reform? They certainly are not exclusive, as your question suggests. In fact, I'm not even sure why you ask: "is education really the silver bullet, or is economic reform a better route to social reform?" Is education not the most worthy of social reforms in its own right? Perhaps more than democracy or even democratic values? With regards to the survey results, doesn't the recent IRI survey give a different picture? In the May 11, 2009 survey that you linked, the most relevant question that I saw was on slide 39. The statement of the question reads: "If you had a choice between a stable and prosperous Pakistan that was ruled by a military dictatorship, or a democratic government that led to an unstable and insecure Pakistan, which one would you choose?" Response: 77% - democratic government, unstable and insecure. 20% - military dictatorship, stable and prosperous. I thought that was a very encouraging statistic, given that the situation is no where near as stable and pleasant as many Pakistanis had hoped for before the last year's elections. In other words, people (according to the same IRI survey) do not seem to feel that the democratic government has "delivered". Is education and economic reforms separable, when it comes to drivers for social reform? They certainly are not exclusive, as your question suggests. In fact, I’m not even sure why you ask: “is education really the silver bullet, or is economic reform a better route to social reform?” Is education not the most worthy of social reforms in its own right? Perhaps more than democracy or even democratic values?

With regards to the survey results, doesn’t the recent IRI survey give a different picture? In the May 11, 2009 survey that you linked, the most relevant question that I saw was on slide 39. The statement of the question reads: “If you had a choice between a stable and prosperous Pakistan that was ruled by a military dictatorship, or a democratic government that led to an unstable and insecure Pakistan, which one would you choose?”

Response:
77% – democratic government, unstable and insecure.
20% – military dictatorship, stable and prosperous.

I thought that was a very encouraging statistic, given that the situation is no where near as stable and pleasant as many Pakistanis had hoped for before the last year’s elections. In other words, people (according to the same IRI survey) do not seem to feel that the democratic government has “delivered”.

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