The Royal Semi Authoritarian Democracy Of Bhutan

The book puts into plain words a changing dimension of politics in a traditional regime and offers an insight into the emerging transition to royal, semi-authoritarian democracy in Bhutan. Bhutan represents a political system which coalesces the rhetorical acquiescence of democracy with illiberal authoritarian attributes under the former royalist shadow. Royal democracy is a myth and only paints the frontage of democracy. The smokescreen of this kind of authoritarian regime is not yet democracy but is instead a new form of semi-authoritarian rule. The political reforms in Bhutan were orchestrated by the “traditional regime and elites in a traditional society” as a tightly controlled, top-down process without devolution of power outside the regime. Royal Democracy can best be understood as an attempt to construct a political regime that impersonates democratic institutions but works outside the logic of political representation and seeks to repress any vestige of genuine political pluralism. Exploring the authoritarian logic behind the democratic rhetoric is especially important for Bhutan, which is today glorified by the UN as “The Mecca of Gross National Happiness” and depicted by many as a model of top down democracy on popular media and in academia. Holding State controlled elections alone does not create a cure for deeper political, economic, and social predicaments besetting Bhutan and does not create a solid foundation for democratic transition. The glitter of royal, semi-authoritarian democracy is a “Jigmecracy,” an old Jigme’s system with new labels, a classic case of transition from a traditional regime in a traditional society.

This book studies how a modern monarchy transformed Bhutan into a parliamentary democracy. A political ethnography, it focuses on the historic elections of 2007–2008, and studies democracy and its transformational processes from the ground up. It draws on historical as well as contemporary theories about kingship and regime change to analyse Bhutan’s nascent democratic process and reflect on the direction of political change, both at the state and local levels in the aftermath of the elections. It also presents insights into the electoral and political process by giving a first-hand account of the author’s own participation in the elections and ponders on the larger political implications of this election for the region. A strong theoretical discussion situated in robust fieldwork and personal experience, this book will be an essential read for scholars and researchers of politics, especially comparative politics and political institutions, South Asian and Himalayan Studies, political sociology and social anthropology.

This book discusses the perceptions India has about its South Asian neighbours, and how these neighbours, in turn, perceive India. While analyzing these perceptions, contributors, who are eminent researchers in international relations, have linked the past with present. They have also examined the reasons for positive or negative opinions about the other, and actors involved in constructing such opinions. In 1947, after its independence, India became part of a disturbed South Asia, with countries embroiled in problems like boundary disputes, identity related violence etc. India itself inherited some of those problems, and continues to walk the tight rope managing some of them. Traditionally, seventy years of India’s South Asia policy can roughly be categorized into three overlapping phases. The first one, Nehruvian phase, which viewed the region through a prism of an internationalist; the second one, ‘interventionist’ phase, tried to shape neighbours’ policies to suit India’s interests; and the third, accommodative phase, when policy makers attempted to accommodate the demands of the neighbours in India’s policy discourses. These are not ossified categories so one can find that policy adopted during one phase was also used in the other. Keeping the above in mind, the book discusses India’s role in managing and navigating through challenges of the presence of external, regional and international, powers; power rivalries in South Asia; India’s maritime policy and her relationship with extended neighbours; and India being visualized as a soft power by South Asian countries. It will certainly appeal to the academicians, students, journalists, policy makers and all those who are interested in South Asian politics.

The Political Handbook of the World by Tom Lansford provides timely, thorough, and accurate political information, with more in-depth coverage of current political controversies than any other reference guide. The updated 2020-2021 edition will continue to be the most authoritative source for finding complete facts and analysis on each country′s governmental and political makeup. Compiling in one place more than 200 entries on countries and territories throughout the world, this volume is renowned for its extensive coverage of all major and minor political parties and groups in each political system. The Political Handbook of the World 2020-2021 also provides names of key ambassadors and international memberships of each country, plus detailed profiles of more than 30 intergovernmental organizations and UN agencies. And this update will aim to include coverage of current events, issues, crises, and controversies from the course of the last two years.

This sweeping reference work covers every aspect of the Cold War, from its ignition in the ashes of World War II, through the Berlin Wall and the Cuban Missile Crisis, to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Cold War superpower face-off between the Soviet Union and the United States dominated international affairs in the second half of the 20th century and still reverberates around the world today. This comprehensive and insightful multivolume set provides authoritative entries on all aspects of this world-changing event, including wars, new military technologies, diplomatic initiatives, espionage activities, important individuals and organizations, economic developments, societal and cultural events, and more. This expansive coverage provides readers with the necessary context to understand the many facets of this complex conflict. The work begins with a preface and introduction and then offers illuminating introductory essays on the origins and course of the Cold War, which are followed by some 1,500 entries on key individuals, wars, battles, weapons systems, diplomacy, politics, economics, and art and culture. Each entry has cross-references and a list of books for further reading. The text includes more than 100 key primary source documents, a detailed chronology, a glossary, and a selective bibliography. Numerous illustrations and maps are inset throughout to provide additional context to the material.

As India prepares to take its place in shaping the course of an ‘Asian century’, there are increasing debates about its ‘grand strategy’ and its role in a future world order. This timely and topical book presents a range of historical and contemporary interpretations and case studies on the theme. Drawing upon rich and diverse narratives that have informed India’s strategic discourse, security and foreign policy, it charts a new agenda for strategic thinking on postcolonial India from a non-Western perspective. Comprehensive and insightful, the work will prove indispensable to those in defence and strategic studies, foreign policy, political science, and modern Indian history. It will also interest policy-makers, think-tanks and diplomats.

This book examines public administration in South Asia in the context of rapid changes and modernization of administrative traditions, thoughts, and practices. The existing literature has, however, not given adequate attention to these developments, at least in a single volume. The book describes both the shared administrative traditions of Bhutan, Bangladesh, China, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, and how far they have adapted their administrative systems to respond to contemporary administrative and governance challenges. The book studies how national civil service reforms have been carried out in each member state of South Asia and how the national civil service acts and different regulations are being implemented, as well as what are the critical factors associated with the implementation of national civil service acts and reform measures in the region.

A comprehensive and systematic guide to environmental rights and their relationship with standards of protection globally, nationally and locally.

The Political Handbook of the World provides timely, thorough, and accurate political information, with more in-depth coverage of current political controversies than any other reference guide. The updated 2018-2019 edition will continue to be the most authoritative source for finding complete facts and analysis on each country’s governmental and political makeup. Compiling in one place more than 200 entries on countries and territories throughout the world, this volume is renowned for its extensive coverage of all major and minor political parties and groups in each political system. It also provides names of key ambassadors and international memberships of each country, plus detailed profiles of more than 30 intergovernmental organizations and UN agencies. This comprehensive update will include coverage of current events, issues, crises, and controversies from the course of the last two years, including: Elections across Europe Referendum in Ireland Rohingya genocide in Myanmar The Venezuelan dictatorship The renaming of Swaziland to eSwatini Qatar diplomacy changes Historic meeting between the United States and North Korea Establishment of a new governing coalition in Liberia

The Political Handbook of the World 2022-2023 provides timely, thorough, and accurate political information, with more in-depth coverage of current political controversies than any other reference guide. The updated 2022-2023 edition continues to be the most authoritative source for finding complete facts and analysis on each country′s governmental and political makeup. Tom Lansford has compiled in one place more than 200 entries on countries and territories throughout the world, this volume is renowned for its extensive coverage of all major and minor political parties and groups in each political system. It also provides names of key ambassadors and international memberships of each country, plus detailed profiles of more than 30 intergovernmental organizations and UN agencies. And this update will aim to include coverage of current events, issues, crises, and controversies from the course of the last two years.