Two distinct concepts of country and state are generally taken synonymous to each other. Not accepting this traditional notion the present author takes a priori that a country qualifies to be a state only when it opts for its own constitution. The second priori of the study is complimentary to the first one and that is, a country consists of merely a particular area and a set of people living there whereas a state consists of land, people and a constitution in practice in its true letter and spirit. Thus, Pakistan emerged on the map of the world as an independent and sovereign country on August 14, 1947, yet it required to evolve into a sate having a constitution of its own, reflecting at least three things i.e. institutions, interlink between these institutions and aspirations of the people. In this very pursuit Pakistan formulated its first constitution in 1956, which could not last long and was abrogated by the then President of Pakistan, General (r) Sikender Mirza in 1958. It however had its second constitution in 1962 which also could not last even for a decade and was abolished by its own master, Ayub Khan, in 1969. Ultimately, Pakistan has had its third constitution in 1973 which was originally parliamentary and federal in its nature. Whereby, powers were distributed between the centre and provinces. For that purpose three lists were provided in the constitution – Federal List, Provincial List and Concurrent List – mentioning powers of the centre, provinces and some powers in the common pool. It was pledged in the constitution that the concurrent list will be abolished after ten years which could not be materialised until 2010.
The resolution of political power is considered to be critical in political theory and practice and is much debated on whether it precedes or is part of the process of democratisation. In Pakistan, the distribution of power between the centre and the provinces has been vexatious and at times an explosive issue, when the centre resorted to force. It was the recognition for the need of conflict resolution between the federation and the provinces that led to the promulgation of the 18th Amendment, as an attempt to resolve this issue politically. The consolidation of political power through political means impact positively on other critical processes in nation building for example, the establishment of the democratic process, economic development and the promotion of human security. However, constitutional reform is a process that has to be sustained and nurtured so that its aims and objectives remain operational in practice.
In order to actualise the promise of devolution, enhance provincial autonomy and strengthen the federation, Pakistan witnessed a very significant development in the year 2010 with the signing of 18th Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan. The 18th Constitutional Amendment introduced changes to about 36 per cent of the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan: 102 out of 280 Articles of the constitution were amended, inserted, added, substituted or deleted. It not only abolished the Concurrent Legislative List of the Constitution rather has made momentous changes in the Federal Legislative List, Parts I and II.
The functions previously contained in the Concurrent List have now been devolved to the provinces except electricity. It has also transferred subjects from the Federal Legislative List Part-I, which defines the functions allocated to the federal government, to the Part II, making them a joint provincial and federal responsibility. Consequently, these incremental improvements have brought in substantive changes in the structure of government. It is now required to analyse this process of evolution of this country into State of Pakistan and eventually the devolution of power from an over centralised state to a substantially federal and participatory democracy. The study aims to highlight all the capacity constraints and systemic challenges to the political system of Pakistan through the subsequent course of evolution and its transition through the democratic devolution. We also need to understand that whether it is an evolution of the country of Pakistan to the devolution of power or through the process of devolution this indeed is a true evolution of the state of Pakistan.