Paper short abstract:

This paper uses the concept of path dependence to explain the ability of landowning elites in Punjab to reproduce their power over time, focusing in particular on the mechanisms through which this is done. The paper also considers the potentialities for institutional change in Punjab.

Paper long abstract:

Despite tremendous economic and social change, landowning elites in Punjab continue to exercise tremendous political power. In addition to being disproportionately represented in the different levels of representative government, they remain deeply embedded within the political party system, and continue to function as the rural foci of the province's patron-client politics.

This paper uses the concept of path dependence will be used to explain the continued power of landowning elites in Punjab. Using a diverse array of archival sources, and by focusing on key critical junctures in the colonial and post-colonial periods, it will be shown how the landowning elite were able to enter into a bargain with the British and Pakistan's military-bureaucratic establishment, trading political support for state patronage. This allowed the landowning elite to increasingly entrench themselves within the institutional framework of Punjab's politics by deploying three main mechanisms; the exercise of legislative power to shape the arena for political contestation and economic accumulation, the cultivation of links with the bureaucracy and military to strengthen their position as rural patrons, and the manipulation of electoral party politics to guarantee their direct participation in government. The paper argues that these mechanisms have underpinned the reproduction and reinforcement of landed power in Punjab, allowing landowning elites to deepen their relationship with the state, adapt to the shifting terrain of Pakistan's politics and, following the logic of path dependence, make it increasingly difficult to challenge their power over time. The paper concludes by examining potentialities for institutional change that could allow for a more progressive and participatory politics in rural Punjab.