Money Isn't Everything Mr. Hamid

I couldn't agree more with Ahsan's preceding post, Mohsin Hamid is dead wrong when he assumes that an increase in taxes would rid us of our ills. As Ahsan points out, the problem lies in how the taxes are spent not in how much money is available - this is actually exemplified by how our are collected, we pay very little into our provincial and local government and I'm pretty sure that any increase in the tax revenue is likely to flow into the federal government.

Over the past 10 days I've run around the United States meeting people from each pillar of the government, and the thing that's really struck me is just how complicated the American system of government really is. There is a three tier system of governance: federal, state and local, governed by federal, state and local laws and funded by federal, state and local laws. "This is a state that is designed to create eternal internal tension" says an American federal judge, a contender for the spot on the Supreme Court.

If the American system creates tension, the Pakistani system creates acquiescence. In Pakistan we have this one giant Military-Executive pillar, that rules over us, governs us through its laws and rules and is funded through our money. And to claim that the Pakistani judiciary is strong after the lawyers movement is to not really understand the rule of law and justice. A powerful Chief Justice doesn't mean you have a strong judiciary, it means you have a powerful chief justice willing to exercise his constitutional authority, nothing more.

I am awe struck by the strength of the American judicial system. The true power of the American judicial system results from it being separate from the other branches of government in a manner that is unheard of in almost any other country. Over 90% of the litigation occurring in the United States takes place in state courts, and many of these judges (varies from state to state) are elected. Imagine that, an elected judge.

In Pakistan, our judiciary is still born and weak beyond compare. And its not just a matter of resources, the Asian Development Bank recently gave a huge grant to Pakistan to help the country improve its judicial system. The money was spent in raising the salaries of judges and court staff, sprucing up buildings and buying computers (most of which lie idle). Our government officials / administrators / judges weren't insincere, nor did they misappropriate the money, they didn't know what to do with the money. This ties into what Ahsan termed as "State Capacity." Pakistan is so ill formed as a state that its pillars of government do not really understand what they are supposed to do even when they have the resources.

I've always been quick to pass judgment on our government officials but that's not fair, there are severe institutional constraints placed on our officials. Almost everyday a lawyer at our firm will criticize a judge of the High Court for being incompetent - and many of these judges may well be incompetent. But we fail to realize how little help our judges have. In the United States judges have an extensive staff of professionals including court clerks (comprising of law graduates from the top American universities), they can rely on organizations such as the National Center for State Courts, this is a system of justice not just a lineup of judges.

We can raise our taxes and we can pump in money into the government but until the Pakistani state straightens out its priorities and begins to understand what a government, what a state, is supposed to do we won't have a brighter future.