Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Applied Economics and Social Science (ICAESS 2025)

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A Symmetric Federalism in Pakistan: Historical Lessons and Constitutional Challenges

Authors
Muhammad Faisal1, *
1National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
*Corresponding author. Email: mfaisal@nips.qau.edu.pk
Corresponding Author
Muhammad Faisal
Available Online 13 February 2026.
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-990-2_43How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Language barrior; Distribution of sources; Recruitments of military; Economic un-equality; Sheikh Mujeeb’s six points
Abstract

Federations are made up of several entities including cultural, political, and economic interests. These variations often leads to debates and disputes resulting from the natural and institutional differences within a federation. To resolve such differences, some federations employ a symmetric federalism, a constitutional system meant to accommodate differential requirements and desires among affiliated units. In recent years, a symmetric federalism has gained significant scholarly attention, with studies investigating its origins, evolution, conceptual frameworks and various degrees of application across the world. In Pakistan, a federal state marked by uneven federating units and past difficulties with national cohesiveness, this paper explores the existence and consequences of symmetric federalism. By studying theoretical foundations, the country’s natural structure and constitutional arrangements, this study analyzes whether a symmetric pattern exist in the federal system of Pakistan. A special focus is given to the historical rejection of federalism that led to the partition of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), analyzing the political, institutional and constitutional elements that contributed to this key event.

Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Applied Economics and Social Science (ICAESS 2025)
Series
Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research
Publication Date
13 February 2026
ISBN
978-94-6463-990-2
ISSN
2352-5428
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-990-2_43How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - Muhammad Faisal
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/02/13
TI  - A Symmetric Federalism in Pakistan: Historical Lessons and Constitutional Challenges
BT  - Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Applied Economics and Social Science (ICAESS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 648
EP  - 656
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-990-2_43
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-990-2_43
ID  - Faisal2026
ER  -