Pakistan, Oct. 9 -- Power is not only about who governs but about how close that governance feels to the ordinary citizen. History teaches that legitimacy comes not just from constitutions and parliaments, but from the ability of people to see their government in action, repairing the street outside their home, running the school where their child studies, ensuring the water that flows from their tap is clean. When governance remains distant, hidden in capital cities, it hardens into an abstraction. When it is close, familiar and accessible, it begins to feel like democracy in its truest sense.

Much speculation surrounds whether Pakistan should be divided into 12 provinces instead of the existing four. Advocates believe more provinces wo...