Bhutan's Development

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer provides a study into the factors behind Bhutan's state, economy and development. The writer maintains that information regarding Bhutan's development is relatively accessible, and its seclusion from global narratives makes it a natural experiment in alternative modes of development, democracy and equality.The writer notes that it is a common assumption that political and economic elites are primarily concerned, through force or guile, with furthering their own interests - and it is something of a tragedy that this assumption has been ratified by countless examples. The writer maintains that the most important lesson from Bhutan is that this is not necessarily the case. The writer concludes that Bhutan demonstrates that it is possible for an autocratic regime to act with transparency, sustainability and enlightenment, in the interests of its subjects. It provides a working model for 'social monarchy'.

From the Paper:

"New Shabdrungs was chosen by reincarnation. This rendered Bhutan's most powerful political position extremely contestable, as any powerful feudal family could claim to have a child exhibiting the qualities of Shabdrung, and they were generally under four years of age when they took the post. As a result, power was kept for an average of 8 years from 1637-1885. This political tradition meant that power was relatively equally shared between a number of small political structures from 1637 to the beginning of the 20th Century. The crucial consequence of this history is that there was no ongoing and systematic consolidation of power into the hands of a single political elite, as was occurring in the majority of other countries worldwide.
"In the late 19th Century, Bhutan underwent a civil war between pro-Tibetan and pro-British principalities. Ugyen Wangchuck, a pro-British regional leader, overcame the Tibetan factions in the civil war of 1885 and became the dominant figure in Bhutan."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Acemoglu, D and Robinson, J (2006a) "Paths of Economic and Political Development." Pp. 673-692 in Barry R. Weingast and Donald A. Wittman (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Political Economy. Oxford: Oxford University Press
• Acemoglu, D & Robinson, J (2006b) Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy, Cambridge University Press
• Asian Development Bank (2003) Country Economic Review: Bhutan, Manila
• CIA (2007) - World Factbook Available at https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bt.html
• Diener, E. and Seligman, M. (2004) "Beyond Money: Toward an Economy of Well-Being." Psychological Science in the Public Interest 5[1]: 1-31.Frelick, B (2008) Bhutan's Ethnic Cleansing, Human Rights Watch Website:http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/02/01/bhutan17955.htm

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