Wealth and Political Representation Evidence from Pakistan 2013 's General Election.

Abstract

This study aims to examine the level of representativeness of members of National and Provincial Assemblies of Pakistan on the basis of asset holdings. In order to achieve the above objective the study utilizes two data sets, one is on the assets of the representatives and the other is on assets of the general masses. The data set which consists of information on representative's assets and liabilities is obtained from the Election commission of Pakistan and the second one which consists of information on the assets and liabilities of general people is obtained from the Pakistan Social and Living Standard Measurement (PSLM) survey (2013-14). The study compares assets of the members of all assemblies and general people at national, provincial and party level through simple descriptive statistics. The findings show that the distribution of the assets of the political members elected in 2013 's general election is significantly different than the distribution of assets of the people of Pakistan at national, provincial and party level. One of the key findings· of the study is that all representatives of 2013 election fall in top 1 % of people based on asset holding. The study also compares the number of votes and assets of the political patties. Findings suggest a linear relationship between assets of top three mainstream political parties: PML-N, PTI, PPPP and the number of votes they received during 2013 's general election. Our work provides evidence about the role of wealth in holding membership of the parliament, Senate, and provincial assemblies. Findings suggest positive correlation among assets holdings of the candidates and membership across all legislative Assemblies of Pakistan.