Earlier today, I completed my comprehensive exit oral exam for my master’s program in Democracy & Governance at Georgetown University.
One of the points I strongly argued in my examination is that the State of Maryland’s democracy is facing a crisis of epic proportions, and the trajectory of democratic decline and deconsolidation bears a striking resemblance to a phenomenon observed by political scientists in South Asia which I term to be Pakistanization. This term describes the process by which a society’s elite (political and otherwise) capture industry, political institutions, media, and the judiciary, consolidating power in a way that serves their own interests at the expense of democratic norms, governance, and public welfare. Maryland, long a bastion of Democratic Party control, is increasingly exhibiting characteristics of this phenomenon, raising serious concerns about the state’s political and economic future, as well as questions as to whether the rule of law remains functional and extant within its borders.
Below, I give a brief but I think persuasive argument that Pakistanization is in full swing in Maryland, and has been for at least the past decade, though arguably it has accelerated under the tenure of Governor Wes Moore and his Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller.
The Features of Pakistanization in Maryland
Elite Capture of Key Institutions
In Pakistan, elite capture manifests through a small class of political dynasties, security officials, and business tycoons who dominate governance and economic activity. Maryland exhibits a similar pattern through the monopolization of political and economic power by a select group of politicians and corporate interests, creating an impenetrable establishment. Legislative and executive branches are controlled by long-standing political figures who cycle through different roles within the system, with little opportunity for outsiders to break in. The judiciary and media largely serve as extensions of these entrenched interests, amplifying their narratives and shielding them from scrutiny.
Elite Capture of the Ballot Box
Take for instance Maryland’s dubious distinction of being home to some of the most expensive electoral races in American history: in 2016, the race for Maryland’s Eight Congressional District was the most expensive in U.S. history at the time. Last year, a full third of the Maryland congressional delegation had law degrees from Harvard, and a total of half of Maryland’s federal elected officials attended an Ivy League school for some portion of their education (including an MBA at Wharton for Rep. David Trone, and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School for Sen. Chris Van Hollen). While the Ivy Leagues have lost some representation with Sarbanes and Trone leaving office, their replacements, Sarah Elfreth (MPP – Hopkins) and April Delaney (J.D. – Georgetown) still have fairly elite credentials (full disclosure, I too am a Hoya, and proudly note that Georgetown’s commitment to social justice runs far deeper than any other higher education institution in the land).
But it’s not just a matter of credentialism. According to Common Cause Maryland a quarter of Maryland’s state legislators have been appointed by secretive local party boards rather than elected into their office at the first instance. This is very similar to how Pakistan’s security elites often shape legislative candidatures to their choosing in order to maintain loyalty and control over the public.
Those party boards, particularly the raucous governing body of Montgomery County’s Democratic Party, have found national and international fame in the last few years. The ex-chair of the Montgomery County Democratic Party is alleged to have threatened at least one fellow party board member to vote for candidates of the Lt. Governor’s choosing, or face their wrath. Those accusations led to a call for a boycott of party fundraising events that proved disastrous for Democratic coffers in donor rich MoCo.
Deterioration of Quality of Life
One of the most telling signs of Pakistanization is the sharp decline in the quality of life for ordinary citizens. Maryland, despite its wealth, is experiencing increased housing insecurity, faltering public transportation, and rising crime rates. Baltimore, once an industrial powerhouse, struggles with economic stagnation and disinvestment. Even in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties—two of the state’s most economically robust regions—working-class and immigrant communities face rising living costs and diminishing public services.
According to WTOP News, crime increased for the third year in a row last year in Montgomery County. Half of Montgomery County Public Schools’ (MCPS) high schools saw a major drop in quality according to the state’s annual school report card metric in 2023. While Baltimore has seen a major drop in crime in the past year, it should be noted that carjackings, break-ins and violent crimes have seen an uptick elsewhere across the state.
Rise in Corruption and Nepotism
Maryland’s political machine operates on a system of patronage, where well-connected insiders benefit from government contracts, appointments, and policy decisions tailored to their interests. The recent FBI investigations into political corruption in Baltimore, as well as ethics scandals involving high-ranking officials, highlight the growing culture of impunity among the state’s elite. This mirrors the entrenched cronyism in Pakistan, where political figures leverage their positions to enrich themselves and their allies at the expense of governance.
Aside from the absurdity of a secretive 24-person board appointing a whopping 40+% of all of Montgomery County’s state legislators, there are other issues of nepotism at work. It is commonplace for political elites to use their influence within Maryland government circles to secure contracts for non-profits their loved ones are employed by, or to directly influence the hiring of staff by government bodies for their inner circles or spouses. The former practice is so common that it is termed the Non-Profit-Political Industrial Complex by political insiders.
Corruption: Is this Maryland or a Mad Max Franchise? Film?
In the last three years: a Maryland judge has committed suicide while awaiting the FBI to arrest them on federal charges for child sexual exploitation; a popular local mayor pled guilty to 140 charges of child pornography possession; two MCPS employees were convicted of theft of state funds in the hundreds of thousands; a Montgomery County Council employee was fired after they misused over ten thousand dollars of county funds for the benefit of their spouse; another state judge was removed from the bench recently over misconduct; the ex-governor’s chief of staff was killed after a Hollywood-style shootout with federal agents on a highway (he was a fugitive facing federal corruption charges); a prosecutor was indicted (and later pled guilty to) over 80 charges of gaming the criminal prosecution system to stalk, harass and malign their ex girlfriend and the list goes on. I’ll stop here for the benefit of the reader’s sanity.
In a state with roughly 2% of the American population, that is a lot of corruption in such a short amount of time, with far more being investigated as we speak, and plenty of convictions and indictments I simply chose not to publish in this short article tonight (expect a longer one soon).
Maryland’s political elite thrive on a culture of corruption—but that too will be a later post in the series!
Monopolistic Domination of the Ballot Box
A key feature of Pakistanization is the erosion of electoral competition. In Pakistan, military-backed parties and dynastic political families suppress opposition and manipulate elections to maintain their grip on power. In Maryland, the Democratic Party has achieved near-total electoral dominance, leaving voters with little real choice. Gerrymandering, restrictive ballot access laws, and the institutionalization of party loyalty ensure that incumbents rarely face meaningful challengers. As a result, elections become performative exercises rather than genuine democratic contests.
This section requires a full post on its own (yes, it’s coming), but suffice to say Maryland’s democratic processes have become cumbersome, deliberately exclusive, and often times design to keep voters out, and electoral elites in. In the past year alone, the number of political insider scandals involving Montgomery County’s ever-troubled Democratic Party and its efforts to stage-manage democracy for the benefit of elites is fairly telling (and yes, a post on this is coming very soon).
Voter Apathy and Declining Turnout
As the political system fails to deliver meaningful change, voters disengage. The economist & political scientist Albert Hirschman’s Exit, Voice, and Loyalty framework is useful here: Marylanders, seeing no viable options for political reform, are choosing exit over voice. This can be examined through how less than half of Maryland’s voters (48%) turned out to vote in the election that put Wes Moore & Aruna Miller into office in 2021.
Less than a third of Democrats (Dems enjoy a 2:1 registration advantage in Maryland) turned out to vote in the primary election that eventually led to the election of a Lt. Governor with open associations with foreign hard-right groups (despite her repeated denials) in a state that votes less blue than only California in presidential elections. Some will argue the low electoral turnout reflects a disinterest in democracy by the electorate. I argue strenuously that it reflects a deliberate locking out of the electorate by elites (who holds a primary election in the middle of July?). As a result, voters choose to exit the electoral marketplace.
Fiscal Decline and Population Exodus
As Pakistan’s political dysfunction has driven educated professionals and businesses abroad, Maryland is experiencing its own version of brain drain. High taxes, regulatory burdens, and the cost of living are pushing residents to relocate to Virginia, Florida, and Texas. This exodus reduces the state’s tax base, putting further strain on public services and infrastructure. Moreover, Maryland’s inability to attract and retain businesses exacerbates economic stagnation, limiting opportunities for upward mobility.
Nearly 200,000 Marylanders abandoned the state in 2023 alone. It was only one of five states to have a shrinking population overall last year. The problem gets worse when we consider just who is leaving: small business owners and tax-generating wealthy Marylanders are leaving the state in droves (why that is, is beyond our scope today).
Can Maryland Reverse Course?
The answer is a qualified yes, Insha’Allah. But it won’t be easy.
The Pakistanization of Maryland did not happen in a vacuum or overnight, and reversing the trend towards interminable decline will require significant structural changes.
First, addressing the extraordinary shortcomings of the Maryland Democratic Party and its county chapters weill essential to restoring both political competition and faith that said competition isn’t being stage-managed like it is in Pakistan. This does not mean simply electing more Republicans in an effort to shore up the loyal opposition. Instead, it means fostering a genuinely competitive political environment where independent and third-party candidates can viably challenge entrenched power, and where we see a far higher engagement at the ballot box both in primaries and general elections (closer to 60+% turnout).
Second, the state needs systemic electoral reforms, including redistricting transparency, ranked-choice voting, and stricter anti-corruption measures. Maryland’s Office of the State Prosecutor (OSP) is routinely underfunded and often deliberately under-resourced in an effort by elites to keep politics as usual…usual. Federal agents have had to descend on the state numerous times to deal with corruption Maryland’s political elites simply benefit directly from or don’t want to deal with. Often, the only time political elites take action is when they see some of their own breaking away from the establishment, and seek a course correction by punishing one of the own as a way to make an example out of them. That’s Pakistanization at its purest, as Pakistan’s security and political elite recently did the same to Prime Minister Imran Khan for going off-script so many times in recent years. He is now in prison on invented charges of corruption, following at least one army-sponsored assassination attempt on his life.
Finally, civic engagement must be revitalized. Marylanders need to see government as an institution that serves them, not one that exists to perpetuate a political machine. Encouraging participation in local governance, supporting independent media, and holding elected officials accountable are key to ensuring that democracy in Maryland does not succumb to the fate of Pakistanization. Indeed, while Punjabi Samosas are tasty, they should not form the basis of our governance structure.
The symptoms of Pakistanization are clear, but there is still an opportunity to chart a different path—one that prioritizes good governance, political competition, and economic vitality over entrenched elite control. The question is whether Maryland’s citizens and the political elites who seek to govern them have the will to make that change before it’s too late.
The clock is ticking.
