Federal political system resolve the problem of premature dissolutions of government in

2.4 Methodologies and Methods 
Methodologies used in this thesis are influenced by the researcher's epistemology 
in the light of Realism, Positivism, Instrumentalism and Interpretivism. This thesis 
comprises two parts, the first from chapters 3 to 4 that establishes the concepts 
(such as federalism, the key factors used for the purpose of analysis and the 
doctrine of state necessity) and tests the phases of Pakistan’s constitutional history 
against the key factors. The second, in Chapter 5, compares an established concept 
to another existing concept (i.e. the US presidential system). Since both the tasks 
are distinct, the researcher cannot achieve this without employing two different 
techniques to serve the purpose. 
As Hutchinson and Duncan point out, conventional legal analysis is positivist first 
and then interpretivist next, when one looks at the meanings and uses of the 
statutes, events and cases and at the way they are shaped by and interpreted by 
people, including the researcher. The research technique for the first part of the 
thesis, in Chapter 4, is taken from the doctrinal model. The researcher's position as 
a realist bridges the gap and explains why he cannot take the positivist information 
at face value.
The initial positivist evidence is straightforward to locate – the statutes and the 
cases already exist and explored. The researcher has used the test in Chapter 4 to 
keep the analysis consistent and coherent to help connect the first part of the 
analysis with the second part to ensure that the comparison is like with like. The 
test embedded in the second sub-question is both positivist and interpretivist in 
nature. The researcher is relying on the argument that a Democratic Federal 
Political System or something similar (such as the political system of the USA) can 
correct the issues in Pakistan's political system. 
Some, for example Greenberg
27
and Brink,
28
argue that legal interpretivism is an 
amalgam of legal positivism and natural law theory. Dworkin also sees positivism 
27
Mark Greenberg, 'How Facts Make Law' (2004) 10 Legal Theory 157. 
28
David Brink, 'Legal Interpretation and Morality' in B Leiter (ed), Objectivity in Law and Morals 
(Cambridge University Press 2001). 

---

14 
and natural law theory as rules and as having a normative attribute.
29
However, 
legal interpretivism emphasises that legal interpretation is tempered by legal 
tradition.
30
The researcher's view is that factors and rules collectively form both 
what the law is and how it can be interpreted. Such an approach, according to 
Feldman, is known as the interpretive turn in jurisprudence.
31
As an experienced practitioner, the researcher is familiar with the conventional 
doctrinal approach used in legal analysis and, therefore, brings a practice 
perspective to the analysis. However, this thesis is not entirely dedicated to 
exploring statutes and case law, therefore the approach used in chapters 3 and 4 is 
analogous to the doctrinal method, rather than used in its entirety. 
However, the subsequent comparative law analysis needs variables which will come 
from the analysis in the first part of the thesis, these variables include federalism, 
separation of powers, checks and balances and necessity. The comparative law part 
of the thesis in Chapter 5 is therefore dependent upon the outcome of the first part 
of the thesis.