General Voting trend in Khyber Pakhtun Khwa, A study of voting pattern in Districts of Dir

Abstract

This research aims to find out the key determinants of the voting pattern in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with a special focus on Districts of Dir. the voting pattern is one of the important themes of political science that indicates the level of political participation of citizens in modern democracies through the electoral process. The main objectivesof this study are, to understand the attitude of the people towards electoral politics and voting practices and to find out the determinants that establish relatively more stable voting patterns. To achieve these objectives, a mixed-method approach was designed to conduct a survey through a comprehensive questionnaire to get the quantitative data for this research. Moreover, in order to get a deeper insight on the determinants of voting patterns and perceptions, the researcher has conducted focus group discussions and formal and informal interviews, of political workers, academics, journalists, and senior politicians of different political parties and observations from the participants of the survey were also taken into account for accumulating qualitative data. The data were analyzed through statistical methods. To get an inclusive result the researcher has tested the theoretical framework of sociological, psycho-social and rational choice model that focuses on political determinants of the voting pattern. According to the findings of this study, sociological determinants play a significant role in shaping voting patterns in Districts of Dir. although the rational choice and psychosocial determinants also have their impact on voting choices. The major themes discovered through this study are: (i) Religion play a more significant role in determining the voting behavior than the political or economic factors (ii) Pashtun traditions are the main hurdle for women political participation (iii) Youth are more dynamic and rationale regarding their voting choices (iv) General public giving more importance to party affiliation (v) Majority of People do trust in the electoral process and politicians.