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

5. 
A Comparative law inquiry into the USA and Pakistan 
Constitutional Systems 
This chapter uses comparative law techniques to compare Pakistan and the USA in 
terms of their state structures and political systems. 
As indicated in 2.6, a structural approach is initially used in section 5.1, to explore 
the similarity between the two states' structure. This is a pre-requisite for any 
further comparative analysis. A functional-institutional approach is used thereafter 
to highlight the issues arising due to dissimilarity and through a problem solving 
approach to propose a solution and implementation in Chapter 6. 
A functional-institutional approach is used in the remaining sections of this chapter 
to conduct a like by like comparison.
5.1 
The State Structure Analysis 
The purpose of this structural comparison is to ascertain whether the state 
structure of Pakistan is compatible with a US style presidential system. According 
to the researcher's hypothesis of constitutional suitability, a Democratic Federal 
Political System is appropriate for a democratic federal state. The working 
assumption is that both the USA and Pakistan are democratic federal states, 
therefore, similarities between their state structure should be prominent. This 
section ascertains these similarities. The parameters of comparison are mainly in 
the two states’ historical origin and their political arrangements. 
It is logical to suggest that the way in which the political system functions for the 
USA should function for Pakistan if their state structures have some similarity. 
5.1.1 The USA 
As indicated in Chapter 3, the ideals of the Enlightenment were the basis for the 
Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
285
The framers of the US 
constitution were, for example, inspired by the theories of government of Locke, 
Montesquieu and Rousseau.
286
285
Robert A Ferguson, The American Enlightenment, 1750-1820 (Harvard University Press 1994) 150. 
286
Ediberto Román, Citizenship and Its Exclusions: A Classical, Constitutional, and Critical Race 
Critique (New York University Press 2010) 59. 

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74 
The US constitution is over two centuries old, which is a reasonable age from which 
to infer its reliability. The institutions in the USA have developed through the 
acumen of its founding fathers influenced by Enlightenment philosophers. The US 
political system has evolved by addressing several issues discussed later in this 
Chapter. The US political system is a 'constantly dynamic system of unrelenting 
process of trial and error'.
287
There are two aspects to be considered in order to fully ascertain the similarity 
between both the state structures of both countries, i.e., their historic origin and 
their political composition. The comparison in this section will therefore take into 
account the composition of the original union (comprising 13 colonies) of the USA 
and the five provinces of Pakistan. 
The original colonies of America were Crown Colonies (ruled by a Governor, who 
was assisted by a Council), Proprietary Colonies (which were under individuals 
given the powers of government) and the Charter colonies (in which the government 
powers were conferred directly upon the common people). 
In colonial times, the American colonies had already implemented self-government, 
and, through elected assemblies, had the right to legislate. The powers of the 
colonies in America included trade, policing and taxation.
288
The British Empire had 
control over other powers such as the military and foreign affairs. There was a 
perpetual struggle of self-governance between the colonists and the representatives 
of the empire, which eventually led to a war between the American colonies and the 
Empire.
289
The Declaration of Independence on 4 July 1776 declared that the 
colonies were free and independent states.
The colonies were not only independent of the Crown but also independent of one 
another.
290
In June 1776 a committee was commissioned to draft the articles for 
confederation, which were ratified by the then Congress on 15 November 1777.
291
287
Vishnoo Bhagwan & Vidya Bhushan, World Constitution - A Comparative Study (Sterling 
Publishers 1998) 2. 
288
Roger Hilsman, To Govern America (New York: Harry & Row 1979) 11. 
289
ibid 13. 
290
ibid see also US Department of State. 'Office of the Historian' (2015)  
accessed on 28 November 2018. 
291
Richard B. Morris, 'We the People of the United States: The Bicentennial of a People's Revolution' 
(1977) 82 American Historical Review 1. 

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75 
These articles of confederation were merely conventions with no binding 
authority.
292
The early Congress consisted of the delegates of the states and each state had one 
vote.
293
The Congress was designed to control the states' affairs but essentially 
lacked any real authority or force.
294
After the War of Independence was over, there were some inter-state disputes.
295
These gave rise to the Annapolis convention in September 1786 which met to 
consider the extension of the power of the then union known as Confederation.
296
Only five states responded to the conference.
297
Alexander Hamilton from New York 
moved to summon a convention of delegates of all the States to consider the 
question of amending the Articles, which resulted in the famous Convention at 
Philadelphia in 1787.
298
The convention delegates approached the issue by determining that they had two 
objectives before them, i.e. to establish a stable central government and to preserve 
the independence of the States.
299
This resulted in a document incorporating the 
constitution of the new government of the United States in force on 4th March 
1789.
300
This constitution substantially changed the fate of the then 13 states, because it 
created a government that was designed to establish stronger federating units and 
a weak central government,
301
which suggests quite a satisfactory arrangement for 
union or confederation since their individual identity and autonomy was preserved. 
Perhaps it was this federal character that allowed the number of states to rise from 
the original 13 to 50, thus making the USA a union of 50 states. 
292
ibid. 
293
ibid. 
294
ibid. 
295
For example the issue of navigation of the river Potomac between Maryland and Virginia, see 
generally Mount Vernon Conference: James Charleton et al, 'Framers of the Constitution' (1986) 
Washington, National Archives and Records Administration 19. 
296
ibid. 
297
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Virginia. 
298
James Charleton et al, 'Framers of the Constitution' (1986) Washington, National Archives and 
Records Administration. 
299
ibid. 
300
ibid. 
301
Francis Newton Thorpe, 'History of the American People' (1901) World Constitutions Illustrated 
56. 

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76 
This section only focuses on the initial 13 colonies or states for a comparative 
analysis with Pakistan's initial five provinces. From the point of practicality, it is 
wise first to explore how the initial 13 states formed a union and surrendered their 
sovereignty and to consider such issues as whether they were actually similar in 
certain respects or had common goals. The initial 13 colonies were situated on the 
Atlantic coast of North America. In early US history there were disputes between 
these states and those that had joined the union later.
302
These colonies were classified into three groups i.e. the New England colonies, the 
Middle colonies and the Southern colonies.
303
Each group had a different socio-
economic, political and religious character.
304
The economic activities of these colonies were primarily reliant on their location, for 
example; the northern colonies of New England were mainly involved in 
manufacture and industries such as ship building, the southern colonies focused 
on agriculture and livestock and the middle colonies alongside agriculture also 
concentrated on manufacturing metallurgic products such as tools, blocks of iron 
etc.
305
In summary, the 13 colonies, which were essentially different in important aspects, 
(i.e. socio-economic, political and religious) managed to compromise and 
surrendered their sovereignty to form a union. Despite certain longstanding political 
issues, such as civil war, and secession attempts for reasons other than 
representation or anarchy, their history over the past two centuries has witnessed 
that the arrangement has proved itself and the union has survived.
It is argued that had similar arrangements been considered for the initial five 
provinces in newly formed Pakistan, Pakistan would have been stable since those 
five provinces at least shared some common values.
306
In the next section, the 
inception of Pakistan is explored; compared to that of the USA and its deviation 
from the US model is tracked in subsequent sections. 
302
Carl Lotus Becker, 'Our Great Experiment in Democracy; a History of the United States' (1927) (New 
York, Harper 1927) 5. 
303
ibid.
304
ibid.
305
ibid 6. 
306
Such as religion, for example the two-nation theory which states that Muslims and Hindus are 
two separate nations, therefore, Muslims should have their own homeland, in which they can 
practise Islam. 

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