Who needs democracy?

In Britain, where parliamentary democracy has existed alongside consitutional monarchy since 1688 and where constant wars have been fought against autocracy overseas, it is now almost inconceivable that any other mode of government is viable. The dictators of the twentieth century have created a lasting fear of any significant power vested in an individual. Equipped with this perspective, the difficulties faced by King Jigme Khesar Wangchuck, in his attempt to introduce democracy into the remote Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, are fascinating.

The country's first forthcoming parliamentary elections represent a tipping point. External culture and technology have been gradually seeping into Bhutan over the last ten years; television arrived in 1999 and the internet months later. A private press was launched in 2006, breaking the state's hold over domestic media. However, formal dress is still required in public, abortion and cigarette sales are banned, tourists are subject to deliberately inflated prices and (perhaps as a result) there is not a single McDonalds.

Jigme's father (confusingly also called Jigme) ruled the country for over 30 years, before abdicating in December, leaving his son an outline of the democracy to follow. These changes cast doubt on the future of Gross National Happiness, Jigme Snr's ideology throughout his reign. GNH prized social and spiritual stability above economic growth and industrialisation. This did not mean freezing the country in time, as much as carefully controlling of foreign cultural influence to ensure that traditions were preserved as prosperity was slowly increased. The results were remarkable. Life expectancy grew from 40 at the start of his reign to 64 at its close. The literacy rate has grown from 20 per cent in 1992 to over 50 per cent in 2006, buoyed by the king's devotion to building free schools. GDP is balanced almost equally between services, agriculture and industry. Yet the key statistic is that while Bhutan ranks 134th in the wealth leagues, its population are the 13th 'most happy' in the world. Jigme managed to create a nation that saw little association between wealth and happiness, an unthinkable system across most of the modern world.

Jigme Jnr is a victim of his father's success. The inclination among the population towards the king is as strong as that in Britain towards parliament. There is little understanding for the need to change a successful system. In April, the first in a series of mock-elections to demonstrate the workings of democracy, gave an indication of the size of Jigme's task. Turnout was just 28 per cent. This was not due to ignorance or failure to spread the word, the people just didn't want to vote. Furthermore, when faced with four imaginary parties, each represented by a colour and an ideology (red for industrialisation, green for environmentalism, blue for civic sense and yellow for tradition), yellow won by a landslide. It was no concidence that yellow is also the royal colour.

History has shown that democracy is introduced at the behest of the public, either due to the perceived corruption of the ruler or because of they have witnessed the freedom of their neighbours. Jigme, with typical foresight, has predicted that this demand will eventually come to his own country and pre-empted it. In doing so, he has created a great deal of unease. What emerges will be a unique, royally-led democracy. The influence of the Wangchuck dynasty will continue: the head of the country's biggest (and only) political party, the PDP is Jigme's uncle and two other uncles control the two biggest conglomerates. In this bizarre set of circumstances, the heavy hand of the monarchy is required to direct the population to democracy.