THE POLITICS OF GRAMMAR: HOW MORPHOSYNTAX IS USED TO IMPOSE IDEOLOGY IN PAKISTAN’S LEGAL AND BUREAUCRATIC TEXTS

Abstract

This study investigates the covert ideological mechanisms embedded in the morphosyntactic structures of legal and bureaucratic discourse, with a particular focus on official documents produced within the Pakistani state apparatus. While grammatical constructions such as passive voice, nominalization, modality, and impersonal syntax are often treated as neutral or purely functional, this research contends that they perform critical ideological work. These grammatical features are not merely linguistic conveniences—they are strategic tools that shape institutional authority, obscure agency, and regulate citizen compliance through syntactic means. In doing so, they reinforce dominant power structures and bureaucratic hierarchies, often without the awareness of the reader. Employing a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) framework, informed by the theories of Fairclough, Van Dijk, Halliday, and Van Leeuwen, the study examines a purposive corpus of 25 legal and bureaucratic texts including service memos, judicial verdicts, policy circulars, and regulatory notifications. Through qualitative analysis, the paper highlights how syntactic forms contribute to ideological effects such as dehumanization of policy enforcement, reification of institutional power, and naturalization of state authority. For instance, passive constructions enable agent deletion, thereby diffusing accountability and transforming potentially controversial actions into seemingly routine procedures. Nominalizations abstract away dynamic social actions, presenting policy processes as objective and inevitable entities. Similarly, deontic modality and impersonal constructions enforce obligation and conformity, aligning citizen behavior with institutional expectations. The findings suggest that grammar in official texts functions as a soft instrument of governance—one that shapes public perception, limits resistance, and subtly reproduces systemic power asymmetries. This phenomenon is especially pronounced in the Pakistani context, where the colonial legacy of legal-bureaucratic English continues to inform contemporary administrative style. By revealing these hidden ideological dimensions, the study advocates for the development of syntactic literacy among legal practitioners, bureaucrats, journalists, and citizens, enabling them to decode the politics embedded in institutional language and to critically engage with texts that influence civic life and legal consciousness.

Keywords: critical discourse analysis, morphosyntax, passive voice, nominalization, modality, bureaucratic discourse, legal language, ideology, Pakistan