{"id":4295,"date":"2011-07-12T04:50:57","date_gmt":"2011-07-12T08:50:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/?p=4295"},"modified":"2011-07-13T12:02:03","modified_gmt":"2011-07-13T16:02:03","slug":"pakistan-at-the-polls-introduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/uncategorized\/pakistan-at-the-polls-introduction\/4295\/","title":{"rendered":"Introduction"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the half a century since the country\u2019s founding, changes in Pakistan\u2019s leadership have been marked by assassinations, plane crashes, military coups &#8212; and the occasional democratic election. But even these are sometimes marred by vote rigging, bribery and coercion. This is especially true in poor rural areas &#8212; home to 70 percent of the population &#8212; where literacy rates are low, infrastructure is poor, and villagers are often isolated from national and global issues.<br \/>\nFocal Point takes us inside two different elections to show the power of two shadow forces shaping political outcomes in rural Pakistan &#8212; feudalism and money.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/episodes\/pakistan-at-the-polls\/vote-for-benazirs-blood\/4308\/\"><em>Vote for Benazir&#8217;s Blood<\/em><\/a> follows wealthy feudal landlord and former U.S. ambassador Abida Hussain on election day &#8212; as she competes for votes against her own equally illustrious cousin.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/episodes\/pakistan-at-the-polls\/you-cannot-hide-from-allah\/4310\/\"><em>You Cannot Hide from Allah<\/em><\/a> shows the rise and fall of Ishan Khan, a man of humble Pakistani origins who moves to the U.S., hits the jackpot in a lottery, and returns to his hometown to run for mayor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the half a century since the country\u2019s founding, changes in Pakistan\u2019s leadership have been marked by assassinations, plane crashes, military coups &#8212; and the occasional democratic election. But even these are sometimes marred by vote rigging, bribery and coercion. This is especially true in poor rural areas &#8212; home to 70 percent of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,4,16,17,3,34,25,1,35],"tags":[4310,1226,4309,4311,2330],"class_list":["post-4295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asia","category-by-geography","category-by-title","category-by-topic","category-episodes","category-featured","category-national-buildingpolitical-reform","category-uncategorized","category-womens-rights-roles","tag-abida-hussain","tag-elections","tag-feudalism","tag-ishan-khan","tag-pakistan"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Pakistan at the Polls ~ Introduction | Wide Angle | PBS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pakistan at the Polls ~ Introduction | Wide Angle | PBS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the half a century since the country\u2019s founding, changes in Pakistan\u2019s leadership have been marked by assassinations, plane crashes, military coups &#8212; and the occasional democratic election. 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