Prof Richard Whitecross R.Whitecross@napier.ac.uk
Professor
The Zhabdrung’s Legacy: Buddhism and Constitutional Transformation in Bhutan
Whitecross, Richard W.
Authors
Contributors
Tom Ginsburg
Editor
Benjamin Schonthal
Editor
Abstract
The charismatic Tibetan religious hierarch, the Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal unified Bhutan in the second quarter of the seventeenth century. The Zhabdrung introduced a “dual system” of secular and religious government that remained in place until the establishment of the current monarchy in 1907. Major institutional reforms implemented by the third king saw the state-sponsored Central Monk Body gain roles in the National Assembly and the Royal Advisory Council that lasted until 2008. In its transition to a democracy in 2008 Buddhism was declared to be separate from politics with monks, nuns, and lay practitioners (gomchen) prohibited from taking part in elections or voting. The chapter outlines the transformation from a theocratic “dual system” to a constitutional monarchy and the unforeseen consequences of the separation of religion and politics now emerging in Bhutan.
Citation
Whitecross, R. W. (2022). The Zhabdrung’s Legacy: Buddhism and Constitutional Transformation in Bhutan. In T. Ginsburg, & B. Schonthal (Eds.), Buddhism and Comparative Constitutional Law (73-98). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009286022.007
Online Publication Date | Nov 18, 2022 |
---|---|
Publication Date | 2022 |
Deposit Date | Dec 13, 2022 |
Publicly Available Date | Dec 13, 2022 |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Pages | 73-98 |
Series Title | Comparative Constitutional Law and Policy |
Book Title | Buddhism and Comparative Constitutional Law |
Chapter Number | 4 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009286022.007 |
Keywords | Buddhism, constitutionalis, Bhutan, Tibet, theocracy, secularism |
Public URL | http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/2982771 |
Files
The Zhabdrung's Legacy: Buddhism And Constitutional Transformation In Bhutan
(179 Kb)
PDF
Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
You might also like
Domestic abuse and child contact in Scotland: the perspectives of family law practitioners
(2023)
Journal Article
Bhutan in 2020: Controlling the pandemic
(2021)
Journal Article
Bhutan in 2019: A Change in Government
(2020)
Journal Article
Domestic Abuse in Civil and Criminal Proceedings
(2019)
Presentation / Conference
Downloadable Citations
About Edinburgh Napier Research Repository
Administrator e-mail: repository@napier.ac.uk
This application uses the following open-source libraries:
SheetJS Community Edition
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
PDF.js
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
Font Awesome
SIL OFL 1.1 (http://scripts.sil.org/OFL)
MIT License (http://opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.html)
CC BY 3.0 ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
Powered by Worktribe © 2024
Advanced Search