Democracy: Is it Right for Bhutan?
April 30, 2007 | Printer Friendly

In an April 30, 2007, op-ed to the Christian Science Monitor, entitled “Wary of Democracy in Bhutan, journalist and author Barbara Crossette writes that -- contrary to the belief of the U.S. government -- not everyone in the world wants democracy.  She argues that “a fear of insecurity or a preference for well-being over free-for-all politics” can make people unsupportive of democracy and democratization.  Furthermore, she gives the recent example of the lukewarm reception the Bhutanese people are giving their king’s efforts to democratize as proof that democracy may not be suitable for, or desired by, everyone.

Last week 125,000 Bhutanese voted for the first time ever in a mock election held to help prepare the country for the upcoming parliamentary elections (see http://www.ccd21.org/news/bhutan_democracy.html). As practice for the real thing, people voted on four fake political parties with four different platforms: one advocated environmental protection, one was committed to industrialization, one promised to fight corruption, and one wanted to preserve traditional Bhutanese society, culture, and the monarchy.  According to Reuters, the party that supported the monarchy and traditional values scored a plurality with 44 percent of the vote, more than double the percentage won by industrialization party, which came in second.  The two parties will face each other in a mock run-off on May 28th.

Bhutan has been ruled by an absolute monarchy since 1907 and, according to Crossette, “is the only country in South Asia without some kind of elected government.”  However, she argues that “this democratic neighborhood is the problem.  The Bhutanese look around them and see democracies racked by political, ethnic, or ideological violence – in Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh – and infested with debilitating corruption setting back development across the region map.”

Although the Bhutanese may not be enthusiastically embracing democracy, Crossette highlights the progressive measures the king has taken in order to help his country transition smoothly, such as the establishment an anticorruption commission that will work to combat the corruption that plagues so many nascent democracies.  Additionally, Crossette reports that United Nations representatives are “helping guide the election commission as it tries to teach [the] Bhutanese what voting means” in a democracy, whether they really want to or not.  Based on the 51 percent turnout of registered voters in the mock election, Crossette questions whether the Bhutanese truly do want democracy.   

Additional Sources:
http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-04-27T132805Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-295140-6.xml
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/23/asia/web0423-bhutan.php
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/23/wbhutan23.xml
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6576523,00.html