The influence of Populist Narratives on Election Outcomes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: A study from 2013 to 2024 Elections

Abstract

Populist narratives have become a key element of the political discourse of modern electoral politics shaping both electoral dynamics and voting patterns in both established and emerging democracies. The increasing focus on narratives of anti-corruption, accountability, governance reform, and change has had a significant impact on electoral campaigns, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) in Pakistan. This study aims to explore how populist narratives have affected the electoral results of general elections in KP in 2013, 2018 and 2024. The study follows a qualitative research approach, using thematic analysis of secondary data to discover the prevailing populist narratives that influenced elections. The findings indicate that anti-corruption and anti-elite rhetoric, political change, accountability, citizen empowerment and democratic legitimacy were the most powerful narratives in influencing voters' perceptions and electoral choices. The study also presents how the effectiveness of these narratives was enhanced by charismatic political leadership, digital media and the growing political participation of young people, which empowered political actors to mobilize voters beyond traditional political motivators like kinship, patronage, and ethnic affiliations. Further, the research reveal that the populist narratives shifted from one election to the next as political, economic and institutional dynamics changed, but retained the core narrative of the people–elite dichotomy. Along with the existing studies, this research work makes a significant contribution to the literature on populism in narrative-based electoral politics in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and underscores the increasing significance of political communication in the democratic competition in Pakistan. The outcomes have important implications on the study of electoral behavior, on the consolidation of a democracy and how political communication works in emerging democracies.