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Should a general political test be taken for people to be able to vote in Pakistan?

A democratic country of 220 million people, where 60 million people, according

to “the Ministry of federal education and professional training,” are deprived of the

enlightenment of education, yet exercise the privilege of power. The misuse of this power

can have long-term negative consequences for the country, such as economic recession,

social instability, healthcare and education catastrophes, and loss of value, identity, and

inclusion. This power has the potential to flip the future of the country, but if misused, it

is more dangerous than a disaster. As a result of the abuse of power, our country is

dealing with social and economic calamities. However, are people responsible for

damaging the country's reputation, or is it the government? The government is the face of

a country; therefore, it is crucial to carry out strategic plans, decisions, and visions and

implement those according to the situation. However, citizens are equally important as

the government because we are decision-makers. Our decisions decide the country's

progress and growth. Moreover, living in a democratic country, we have the right to

express our feelings, opinions, and suggestions, and above all, we have the right to

vote. Voting expresses our commitment to ourselves, one another, this country, and the

world.  However, are voting and Democracy fulfilling the purpose of keeping the country

progressive and peaceful? Because people have failed in meaningful utilization of the

voting right as the selection of an efficient government with no apparent long-term vision

and incompetency in managing a difficult situation. So, in order to address the problem of

calamities and maximize the efficient use of the vote, should a general political test be

taken for people to be able to vote in Pakistan? Now, this leads to an unending debate
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between epistocracy and democracy. Epistocracy is a political system in which politically

knowledgeable people elect the government. Although epistocracy, the government

elected by knowledgeable people, creates a perception of abuse of power by a few elite

and does not provide standardized measures of political knowledge, a general political

knowledge test should be taken for people in Pakistan to be able to vote as there are

incompetent principles of moral standards, to prevent the harms resulting from people

voting based on materialistic incentives, and to increase literacy through political

awareness.

An ethical conundrum to allow one class to vote while barring another from

voting creates a gap in moral standards, implying the need for some judgmental criteria.

Brennan's book Against Democracy unleashes the underlying percept of

democracy: “competent principle.” We live in a society where it is assumed that people

should be allowed to contribute or make decisions if they have a reasonable and

competent degree or expertise in that particular field which Brennan called the competent

principle (Brennan 2017). For example, we do not consider pseudo-people's suggestions

in medical decisions, especially when the patient suffers from intense pain. We strictly

follow every guideline and prescription provided by the doctor. However, we need to

remember to implement the competent principle in the most crucial aspect of the political

process, voting. The importance of voting is monumental, from roads and recycling to

education and climate change, housing, and employment. Voting provides you with the

local and national identity of a representative. It is believed that voters have the right to

rule because of their decisional ability to elect representatives who aim to work for

society's well-being. However, according to Statista, we do not involve 35% of the

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population in the voting process because we consider them ignorant and poor judgmental

people, often calling them children (Statista 3). By making such assumptions, we might

not feel guilty, and it makes sense not to allow them to vote as we will not let immigrants

vote unless they pass the civic test and get citizenship or do not allow mentally disabled

people to vote because they lack the required knowledge and fair judgmental skills.

However, on the other hand, we allow 42% of the population who have no political

knowledge or misinformed knowledge about the political system to vote. However, we

exclude those 17-year-old children with a better understanding than these 40-year-old

men. If we can ignore the immigrants, why can't we ignore the ignorants? It is an ethical

dilemma to let one class be allowed to vote and the other not vote, although both are in

the same situation. This creates disparities in our moral standards. That is why to wedge

the inconsistencies in moral standards, we should implement the test policy to have fair

judgmental criteria of knowledge.

  We require a model for governance that truly reflects the needs of the countries

and propels them to regional power. The parliamentary system of Democracy works well

in developed countries primarily due to its prerequisite of high moral standards.

Democracy in Europe works great but is poor in underdeveloped countries. For example,

the parliamentary model of Democracy in Africa and some Asian countries have failed in

totality. The parliamentary system requires meritocracy and accountability; otherwise,

consequences are dire. Flexibility in the democratic model, which suits the natural

world's complexity, is of enormous help. For instance, many parliamentary democratic

models have lost their credibility in the Pakistani context which is evident from the

prevailing situations in the country. We need a model to run the country which truly
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reflects the needs of the countries and brings the countries up in regional power. A new

approach to selecting the country's working model, reflecting the needs of the natural

world, can bring positive change from the status quo. Ultimately the purpose of the

selecting models is to solve the matchless crises of Pakistan, which is a real challenge.

Using psychological tests is a way forward. After testing and experimenting with every

model to run the state, new selection criteria will bring freshness to the leadership.

Questions can be raised about the implementation of this structure. However, a focused

approach to achieving these targets is possible. As the saying goes, where there is a will,

there is a way. Will and proper strategy can pave the way. One thing is established: the

current parliamentary system is broken. It does not work and has never worked. A recent

example is “a decision by Pakistan’s parliamentary speaker to block no-confidence

vote in parliament against Prime Minister Imran Khan, and the subsequent dissolution of

the National Assembly” (Chughtai 1). Psychological tests of selection procedure have

been established successfully for the last two centuries. Continuous work has been

carried out to improve them to reflect the demand of real political situations. For instance,

similar selection criteria are being used by the armed forces. Especially in Pakistan, the

armed forces are one of the best professional bodies and perform flexibly in the

constantly changing landscape of Pakistan. Similar practices are used in the civil services

exams, Pakistan's toughest test. Many businesses prefer and shift their gears towards

these tested leadership models. Hiring committees give particular importance to the

personalities of the candidates. Leaders have to interact with the people. They need to

have a strong personality, capable of fulfilling the demand of the hour. Business studies

formally teach some of these models. The most prominent are the fielder model,
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behavioral approach, Vroom model, Fiedler's contingency model, and Hersey and

Blanchard's model (Bateman et al. 2022).

  People take into account transient and materialistic incentives, which is

democracy's primary flaw. Professors of social and political science at Princeton

University, Christopher Achen and Larry Bartel in their book democracy for realists

present the concept of economic retrospective, which means that voting follows a trend of

evaluation on the past six months' performance. This activity incentivized the voters to

limit short-term tendencies but have a significant impact on long-term trends on which

policies do have a significant impact. Although the majority of voters know relatively

little about politics but when incumbents perform poorly, they can at least raise their

voices for the betterment instead data collected over the past decade shows that voters are

actively engaged in a retrospective model of voting, a model that increases the dangers of

political ignorance die to consideration of short-term goals. Achen refutes the idea of

retrospective voting because it fails to evaluate the leaders for their actual economic

progress and performance. This trend is significantly followed in Pakistan. Along with

these, Pakistan faces a deeply rooted election rigging problem. Pasha, an assistant

multimedia producer at DAWN, revealed types of rigging and deceptions that occur

before, during, and after the election times in Pakistan (Pasha 6). According to the

election commission of Pakistan, approximately 780,000 people, on average, are assigned

to one national seat, so the census is an essential factor in allocating the national seats.

Therefore, the census remains the top priority of influential leaders. Another essential

type of rigging is perception manipulation and bribing voters. Since unfulfilled election

promises by politicians are a form of inducement offered to voters, there is a more direct
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way of ensuring the people of your area vote for you. The people of underdeveloped

areas are usually the main target of its exploitation. In order to fulfill the need for

necessities, people from these underprivileged areas refrain from giving the vote to whom

they are instructed for Qeemay walay naans, plates of biryani, and some thousand rupees

envelopes. Rigging on polling day is also an outrageous way of turning the election's tide.

Candidates who influence their areas exercise the abuse of power to election officials,

and it happens at around 20 percent of the polling station. As a result, there is a small

winning margin of votes such as "in 2013, win margin was lower than votes rejected in

around 35 constituencies which means that there could have been a different winner had

the rejected votes been considered valid" (Bari 6). Another way of election rigging

involves manipulated and one-sided content in print, electronic and social media, dubious

polls, and surveys. These events highlight the importance of tests as a prominent solution

to the problem of ignorance, bribing, and perception manipulation.

Allowing only competent and knowledgeable people to vote means wiping out the

voting rights of nearly half of Pakistan's population, around 60 million. Giving authority

to a few knowledgeable people to elect the government creates a risk of abuse of power

and unnecessary exploitation of other people's rights. If knowledgeable people are

rational in their choices, then the epistocracy's purpose is fulfilled. This is true

that epistocracy creates a perception of advocacy by small elite people but not

implementing this system has far more negative consequences. In order to highlight the

negative impact, Brennan draws an analogy between voting and driving. When people

drive cars, they put others at some risk of harm; however, under normal circumstances, it

is deemed acceptable and fair because we all benefit from driving. However, the
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probability of car accidents becomes higher if drivers are intoxicated. The risk of

allowing them to drive in any circumstances is highly unreasonable and unacceptable

because it puts others at undue risk of harm hence morally unethical. Brennan compares

incompetent voters to drunk drivers. They are more likely to vote for a bad candidate,

subjecting others to poor governance. Giving incompetent citizens political power would

thus enable them to make irrational decisions such as electing influential political leaders,

resulting in the country's economic recession, abusive law enforcement, social and

cultural instability, and the tying of freedom and rights. Despite this elitist disdain, better-

informed and wiser voters entering the voting booth will positively impact society and

the country or at least limit the damage. Now we have a tradeoff between a country's

future for politically incompetent people. It is essential to understand that people can

improve their learning and become more politically aware, but the country's resources

and reputation if lost, will hardly be reacquired.

One aspect of civic responsibilities that stands out is political knowledge. It

primarily affects people, society, and the environment. To test this phenomenon, Putri, a

researcher at the University of Padang Indonesia, has conducted research that

emphasizes the importance of political literacy in political participation. She studied first-

time voters in a regional election in west Sumatra in 2018 (Election of regional Padang

city; regional elections; Elections of Padang Panjang city; Election of Sawahlunto town).

She concluded from the findings that political literacy conducted on first-time voters

using an innovative model positively influenced their participation in the regional

election. In Pakistan, which is already on the verge of illiteracy, there is no incentive for

the government to overcome political ignorance through education. Furthermore, rather

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than increasing knowledge, political leaders and influential groups use public education

to indoctrinate people into their preferred ideology. This discourages voters from learning

more about the current political system and allows them to remain ignorant. Thus,

allowing a general political test would ensure better-informed electorates and actively

engaged voters. This would ensure that electorates set minimum standards for higher-

quality decision-making. Research conducted by American scholars (Converse 1964;

(Campbell et al. 44) concludes that the political environment heavily influences political

learning. This would also allow the government to undertake such initiatives to build an

environment conducive to the public. Implementing an epistrocractic system would also

allow under-privileged and ill-formed people to think critically about their importance of

them in society, sending a clear message that voting is not just a right but one that has to

earn it, thus allowing them to raise their voice for the right through demanding education.

There will also be an incentive for the government to increase voting turnover by

implementing a better curriculum emphasizing civic education and educating its citizens. 

Because people of different ethnicities and groups have varying intelligence,

knowledge levels, and biases, the political test can be a challenge in ensuring that test

measures people according to their capabilities. The idea of conducting political tests

seems to have no substantial impact on society because there is no generally accepted

measure of political knowledge, therefore, Berelson, Lazarsfeld, and Mcphee examined

early Gallup surveys of political knowledge tests administered during the 1948

presidential election, which included a large number of factual political questions. They

concluded that recent public opinion polls rarely measure political knowledge and that

the survey needed more knowledgeable questions. Besides this, "belief systems" and
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"cognitive complexity" are critical public opinion factors influencing political science.

The belief system is the heart of controversy because it is not just the organization of

cognitions but also the political sophistication; a political system consists of a personal

political cognition and the constraint it involves. These constraints can either be size,

range, and organization. A causal and intermediary variable that drives political

knowledge has been identified in recent research as cognitive psychology concepts and

techniques.  According to a number of studies, Factual knowledge is the best single

indicator of expertise, awareness, and political engagement. This argument breaks the

erroneous conscience of the content of the political knowledge test and leads to another

problem of item format, problem of guessing, and structure of knowledge. Test

construction specialists need to be more explicit about the content and item format for the

ability testing of the citizen because the uncertain phenomenon of reliability of items as

multiple choice questions, true/false, and either/or format increases the probability of

guessing. The free-response format can increase the chances of damaging the morale of

respondents while some specialists recommended framing test subjects to minimize

biases arising from differential propensities of guessing (Nunnally 648). According to

Carpini and Keeter, research professors at Columbia and Virginia Commonwealth

University, respectively, unreliability introduced by guessing is a severe problem, and

there is no exact way to deal with this unreliability. However, it can be overcome by

removing the two response options. Lastly, an essential factor, knowledge structure,

could be undertaken while constructing the test. To conduct various types of political

knowledge, Carpini and Keeter designed a survey with exploratory and confirmatory

analyses. They came to the conclusion that the one-dimensional model accurately

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captured the structure in the sample data. A one-dimensional model is a concept of

measuring homogenous indicators. For example, whether citizens are generalists or

specialists across the group of citizens. Finally, political tests can have political facts as a

unit of content. However, some unreliability exists in the item format selection, which

can be minimized. So political tests should be implemented without worrying about the

standardized content and format.

In all modern states, countries always need well-organized political leaders and

governments. They execute a significant role in the functioning of the country both at the

micro and macro level. The importance of their effectiveness can be highlighted by the

fact that the government contributes to more than 35% of GDP in the United States and

other European countries. For the efficient performance of government, one must have

critical judgment and political knowledge in identifying and making the decision of a

leader who knows economic and social realms and has a strategic vision. Being a

responsible citizen, it is the duty to ensure transparency in governmental processes for

their effective working. This implies that epistocracy is needed for the peaceful and

progressive working of the country, which can be achieved by collaboration between

government and people. Epistocracy has required modes such as competent principles of

moral standards, as it provides an equal opportunity of voting to everyone, reduction of

materialistic incentive voting, as it stops the influential leaders and parties from rigging

and bribing underprivileged people in voting times, and increases the literacy rate

through political education by giving government incentive to establish a better detailed

civic education system to educate its people in order to increase voting turnover.

Although, epistocracy has some unreliability in test structure which can be minimized. In
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his book the myth of the rational voter, Economist Bryan Caplan highlighted the

worthlessness of the individual vote "If your vote is not likely to do anything, why not

indulge yourself in what you want to believe whether or not it is true?" Plato, one of the

earliest to see Democracy as a problem, saw its typical citizen as shiftless and flighty:

“Sometimes he drinks heavily while listening to the flute; at other times, he drinks only

water and is on a diet; sometimes, he goes in for physical training; at other times, he is

idle and neglects everything; and sometimes, he even occupies himself with what he

takes to be philosophy.” (Crain 1).

Words count: 3070

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