In contemporary federal literature, federalism is viewed as a political system established on democratic rules, practices and institutions. This leads to the sharing of powers between central and provincial governments with a conflict resolution approach especially in multi-linguistic and ethnically diverse states. The constitution of a federal state institutes the structure and intents of federal political system however it is the type of regime, ruling a state which primarily manifests the politics of federalism and mechanism for public policy. The study predominantly pronounces that due to repeated political shocks and breakdown, an acute centralization of political power and authoritarianism persisted in Pakistan which largely led to provincial autonomy and federal notion under a persistent stress. Owing to intervals of military led politics, federal and political institutions remained less successful to devise viable public policy framework and federal solutions in response to the conflicts stemming out of ethnic and regional discrepancies in Pakistan. The research explicates that institutional imbalance during the civilian decade of 1988-1999 and extended role of military in politics from 1999-2008 augmented the federal challenges in Pakistan. This study identifies that problems of federalism are less associated with federal design rather mostly exist at operational level in terms of policy making. This research mainly focuses on type of regimes which existed in Pakistan and their relevance with their approach towards public policy.

Keywords: Federalism, Public Policy, Regime, Civil-military Relations, Democracy