The Politics of Bhutan: Change in Continuity

Abstract

Although there is a certain degree of incompatibility between Western-derived rhetoric relating to politicisation and Bhutanese practice, since former may be irrelevant to latter, challenges resulting from politicisation process in Bhutan can be compared to what happened in all developing societies. As all traditional states, Bhutan has gone through two different stages in modernisation of its polity. From establishment of monarchy in 1907 to 1960's, first challenge had been to concentrate power necessary to produce changes in a weakly articulated and organised traditional society and economy. The second stage that consists in expanding the power in system to assimilate newly mobilised and politically participant groups, in order to create a modern system, is still underway. Huntington's conclusion that such a process was necessarily fatal to any monarchical system lacking western European political-cultural background has not yet been verified in Bhutan. On contrary, Bhutanese monarchy has been main agent of modernisation. Since it opened to outside world, in early 1960s, kingdom has adopted a unique path toward development. Promoting a distinctive approach to institutions building (polity) and governance orientations (policies), which is consistent both with tradition and modernity, has been essential to its survival.

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