Paper short abstract:

For Pakistan’s elite, many forms of corruption are seen as normative and inevitable. I examine the informal practices that have led to a culture of impunity amongst the nation’s most powerful, and the lessons for development programs emerging from rising domestic demands for accountability.

Paper long abstract:

For Pakistan's elite, many forms of corruption have come to be seen as normative, inevitable, and often, as morally acceptable. I examine this phenomenon through an exploration of how the Pakistani elite construct and maintain their position of privilege and power in Pakistan's unstable political and economic environment through the relationships they develop with powerful actors within the state structure. Drawing on ethnographic examples, I examine the alliances that have emerged between the families who own the nation's major industrial and business assets, national and regional politicians, and the senior-most bureaucrats who lead the nation's regulatory bodies. I examine the specific informal business, political and social processes through which corruption is enacted, and hidden from public view. In doing so, I highlight how social ties and obligations contribute to a culture of impunity, protect privilege, and exacerbate social inequality. The final section of the paper examines rising demands for greater government transparency and accountability within the popular media, and some of the promising results achieved by the regulatory agencies tasked with investigating and prosecuting corruption. The results of these efforts—both their successes and failures—provide valuable lessons for government agencies, and the international donors who seek to support them, in successfully targeting and reducing government corruption.