MORAL POSTURING AND POLICY DRIFT: THE IMPACT OF SYMBOLIC RESOLUTIONS ON PAKISTAN'S CVE LANDSCAPE

Abstract

This study examines the phenomenon of moral posturing through symbolic religious resolutions in Pakistan's legislative assemblies and their counterproductive impact on countering violent extremism (CVE) efforts. A mixed-methods examination of 127 religiously-motivated resolutions passed between 2008-2023, this study demonstrates how political elites utilize the symbolism of religion to achieve electoral advantage and simultaneously has the effect of legitimizing extremist ideologies and eroding actual policy action. The study introduces the concept of "policy drift" - the divergence between symbolic legislative posturing and practical CVE outcomes - and demonstrates how religious instrumentalization by mainstream political actors creates cognitive dissonance in Pakistan's counter-extremism landscape. Drawing on stakeholder interviews, content analysis of legislative proceedings, and comparative case studies, this research develops the Integrated Symbolic- Substantive Framework (ISSF) for Pakistan's CVE strategy. The ISSF focuses on genuine religious work, community-based intervention, governance changes, and evidence-based policymaking in efforts to close the divide between symbolic politics and effective extremism prevention. The framework fills in important gaps in the current CVE literature with a culturally contextualized, empirically based approach that is specifically relevant to the religio-political specifics of Pakistan. The results add to the global P/CVE literature in the sense that it shows how symbolic politics unintentionally supports extremist recruitment and suggests novel solutions that can rebrand the religious discourse as a source of vulnerability to radicalization.