SMOKERS’ CORNER: POLITICS OF THE BIG TENT

Per a new analysis in Dawn, political parties across the world have largely shifted from class-based mass parties to broad coalitions known as big-tent parties. The Democratic and Republican parties in the United States pioneered this approach, absorbing competing ideologies to build winning majorities. Political scientists view big-tent parties as democracy's stabilizers, preventing the chaotic fragmentation of multiparty systems. But their success hinges on managing internal dissent. When factions clash without disciplined leadership, they collapse. India's Janata Party fell apart after just three years. Pakistan's PTI unraveled after its leader was imprisoned. Donald Trump's populist movement weaponized the Republican primary to sideline its moderate wing, reorienting the entire party. Yet Pakistani big-tent parties like the PPP and PML-N have proven more resilient, surviving decades of internal pressure and political upheaval—a resilience that PTI has yet to demonstrate.

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