PSDP funds: A tool for political gains

Distributive politics is at the core of Pakistan’s electoral system, where the ‘electability’ of an individual politician is believed to largely depend on their ability to secure resources to fund ‘development schemes’ or public services in their respective constituencies once the voters return them to the assemblies. No wonder the ruling parties allocate state resources, especially the annual development budgets, in such ways that maximise political gains for them and improve the electoral chances of their candidates during the elections. The parliamentarians are granted large funds in the annual national and provincial budgets to finance schemes within their constituencies to improve their chances of reelection. A study on electoral incentives and the allocation of public funds on the impact of distributive politics in the Journal of the European Economic Association shows such allocations are made potentially at the cost of lower welfare. A central function of governments, the study says, is the provision of public goods and services.