The Senate of Pakistan and Regional Representation

In the first major book on the Senate of Pakistan since its creation in 1973, Dilawar Hussain explores its institutional history, membership, constitutional powers and key functions and how these have changed since the introduction of the Eighteenth Constitutional Amendment in 2010. This book provides empirical flesh to the assumption that, in a federal state, a second chamber is needed to accommodate regional concerns at a federal level. The author explores the institutional history of the Pakistani Senate through its composition, constitutional powers, and key functions as a regional chamber and explains the broader institutional environment in which it operates. This book analyses the impact of the Pakistani Senate as an overseer of federal policies and legislation of the federal government and appraises the parliamentary performance of the senators in advancing concerns of the provinces at the federal level. It also argues that the parliamentary nature of the Pakistani federation has strengthened the executive branch in which the Pakistani Senate operates, and has thus undermined its role as a regional chamber. Within a historical and comparative context, the book provides insight into the Senate’s ‘political legitimacy’ and options for its institutional reforms. Additionally, through the exploration of bicameralism internationally, the book offers a conceptual framework for assessing the institutional strength, institutional design and parliamentary performance of the political institutions. This theoretical, methodological and empirical study is a major contribution to the empirical study of parliamentary behavior and the changing nature of political representation in Pakistan and beyond.