A fledgling democracy, Bhutan aims for gender equality and public engagement in governing

When Tashi Chhozom was appointed a justice of Bhutan’s Supreme Court, she already had 17 years of experience under her belt. She had risen through the ranks first as a training officer, then to assistant judge and later district judge, and eventually, as a High Court justice. Despite this wealth of professional training, she was, at the time of her appointment in August 2012, the youngest of the Supreme Court Justices and, more importantly, the first female to assume the position.  

Within her generation, women pursuing a career in the civil service were few and far between. But things have been changing.  

"When I was appointed, I was the only female candidate," Chhozom recalled in July during a workshop for parliamentary members in Thimphu titled ‘Gender and Minority Inclusion, Public Participation and Citizen Engagement. "But especially in the judiciary, we have seen a lot of female candidates coming up. Right now, we have 20-something percent of the judiciary as female members."

The workshop, organized by DW Akademie and the Bhutan Centre for Media and Democracy (BCMD), offers Bhutanese parliament members and officials the chance to discuss why inclusion is important and what it means for public participation. The training, was part of a project titled ‘Building Inclusive Democracy: Civil Society, Parliamentarians, Media and Youth Strengthen Good Governance in Bhutan.’ The three-year project, funded in part by the European Union, includes fostering cooperation among civil society organizations, journalism training, mobilizing youth, and international exchange. 

Chhozom attended the workshop as an ‘eminent member’ of Bhutan’s National Council. Apart from the 20 elected representatives of parliament’s upper house, the King of Bhutan also appoints five ‘eminent members’ directly, a position Chhozom was handed in 2023 after her 10-year stint in the country’s apex court.  

Tashi Chhozom, an experienced judge and Bhutanese leader, speaks at the workshop. Parliamentarians explored how to make good governance better in Bhutan, which is alone in the region as a liberal democracy. The aim is to bring more women and minorities into the country's leadership.

Small country, big happiness 

Bhutan, the tiny ‘Land of the Thunder Dragon’ in South Asia, is a polar contrast to what one might associate with any of its closest neighbors, China, India, Nepal, or Bangladesh. For instance, Thimphu, its most populous city, is the only capital city in the world without a single traffic light. The city’s busiest intersection is still managed by a traffic policeman directing vehicles using flamboyant hand movements accentuated by his white gloves – apparently all the traffic intervention the 114,000 residents need.  

The country allowed in its first foreign tourists in 1974, and television and Internet were not introduced in the country until 1999. With a population well under a million, Bhutan is also the only country in the world that measures its progress and success not by GDP, but through GNH, or Gross National Happiness. And in less than 20 years of pivoting to parliamentary democracy in 2008, it is already the only liberal democracy in South and Central Asia, a region where 93 percent people live in electoral autocracies, according to the V-Dem Democracy Indices.  

Short history of democracy 

This is much more by design than by chance. When Bhutan’s fifth monarch, the ‘Druk Gyalpo’ (literally meaning Dragon King) Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk ascended the throne and introduced democratic elections and a bicameral parliament, mock elections were held with high school students as candidates. 

"The understanding of the rights of the people through democracy has been a new transition, and it has been a very swift and smooth one," said Birendra Chimoria, the National Council member representing the Dagana Dzongkhag district. "The basic understanding of democracy starts in schools. We have democracy clubs where boys and girls are informed about [the] process of democracy, the process of voting, the process of their expression, and these are important for the future, [for] the youth to understand the essence of democracy."

All of the training's participants. Bhutan is often known for its 'happiness index,' which the country's leaders have used to understand how well its citizens are doing, as opposed to GDP or economic parity. The training explored ways to bring more women into leadership positions.

However, as Chhozom points out, there is still work to do in terms of inclusion and gender, at least in some sectors.  

The future of democracy 

"We have just two elected members in the National Assembly who are female, and one elected member in the National Council," she said.  

It is this nuanced contradiction that Bhutan’s lawmakers are not only open to exploring – to create a larger and more level playing field – but also to improving for future generations. 

"Since the start of the electoral democracy, governance and policymaking have made good strides in addressing the issue of inclusivity in terms of meaningful participation and exchange between different stakeholders," said Tandin Wangmo, an experienced former government official and BCMD’s current executive director. "The project, we believe, does play a great part not only in addressing missing links between stakeholders but also in identifying new gaps that need to be addressed to strengthen democracy and governance in Bhutan amidst emerging needs and challenges."

‘Building Inclusive Democracy: Civil Society, Parliamentarians, Media and Youth Strengthen Good Governance in Bhutan’ is a three-year project, begun in February 2024 and co-funded by the European Union and jointly implemented by DW Akademie and the Bhutan Centre for Media and Democracy.