2025

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Browsing 2025 by Author "Baseerat un Nabi"

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    The Impact of Political Polarization on the Democratic Process in Pakistan in the Digital Era
    (UMT, Lahore, 2025) Baseerat un Nabi
    The emergence of the digital world has transformed the political landscape of Pakistan, resulting in the severe erosion of democratic governance, social harmony, and the stability of institutions. While polarization is an innate aspect of competition in politics, persuading the people through providing fake news and extreme forms of the competition are harmful for democracy, fostering distrust among people toward the system. The increased access to and consumption of digital media has worsened these divides by creating echo chambers where people are only exposed to ideas that validate their impression. This has resulted in misinformation and skewed political discourse. Other elections, such as the general elections in 2018, have fallen victim to this digital propaganda, further losing faith in the election proceedings. Governance, too, has been paralyzed with legislative gridlock on one side and judicial politicization on the other, eliminating institutional confidence. These forms of social cleavages have become more pronounced, and the resultant increase in online hate speech has led to growing intolerance and political violence. To counter such issues, there needs to be enhanced regulation along with cooperative measures between political parties and public educational campaigns to inform the masses about media. Restricting the negative use of digital platforms, enabling the public to actively take part in political conversations, and enhancing the credibility of democratic institutions goes a long way in reducing polarization to ensure that democracy becomes stable in the future.