ELITES, EXTRACTION AND STATE AUTONOMY: PAKISTAN AND U.S IN COMPARISON

Abstract

The role of pressure and interest groups, faction management, extractive system, elite capture, system domination, system reforms, governance deficit, and institutional secrecy and their linkages with state conduct and its autonomy are all quite developed disciplines in their own right and respective fields. These variables, which collectively underpin any analysis of the state and its conduct, however, manifest differently in different states and in different periods of history. Such an analysis would become even more interesting if the comparison is between a developing and a developed country – contextually Pakistan and U.S, respectively, while seemingly Pakistan figures prominently in the discussion.