TY  - BOOK
AU  - Long, William J. 
TI  - Tantric state: a Buddhist approach to democracy and development in Bhutan
SN  - 9780190058746
U1  - 294.3372095498 
PY  - 2019///
CY  - New Delhi
PB  - Oxford University Press
KW  - Buddhism and politics - Bhutan
KW  - Democracy - Bhutan
KW  - Religion and politics - Bhutan
KW  - Bhutan - politics and government
N1  - Table of contents

Acknowledgements 
Chapter One, Introduction 
Chapter Two, A Buddhist Philosophical Foundation for Social Theory 
Chapter Three, A Buddhist Approach to Politics and Economics 
Chapter Four, Bhutan's Nascent Democracy 
Chapter Five, Gross National Happiness: A Buddhist Model of Development 
Chapter Six, Current Challenges: Globalization and National Identity, Inter-Generational Transfer of Values and Protection of Minority Rights 
Chapter Seven, The Dragon's Roar: The Wider Relevance of Bhutan's Buddhist Approach to Democracy and Development 
References 
Index

N2  - Today, the majority of sovereign states can be described as "democracies" because they possess elected political leadership and some measure of commitment to the protection and promotion of individual rights and equality under law. In the economic realm, most democracies are market-based and are integrated into wider regional and global markets. Virtually all are organized around Western liberal principles and values. For some, these philosophical commitments are indigenous and longstanding, and for others they were imported later, often through colonization. This book asks how democratic governance and economic development differ when founded on Eastern, Buddhist principles, rather than Western, liberal, and Enlightenment values and beliefs. 

The small, remote country of Bhutan is the only democratic, market-based state that is rooted constitutionally and culturally in Mahayana Buddhist principles and ethics. In this book, William J. Long provides an authentic basis for theoretical and empirical comparison between two distinct models of democracy and development that differ on important, first-order principles. Bhutanese Buddhist and Western liberal concepts of the individual "self," "human nature" and "the pursuit of happiness"-the building blocks of democratic and market-based economic theory-differ profoundly. Because the two approaches-liberal and Buddhist-are based on distinctive philosophical traditions, this comparison elucidates new questions, frames of inquiry, and alternative understandings of democracy and development.

The book describes how democratic political institutions and markets emerged and how they function in Bhutan, demonstrating how, in real-world terms, Bhutan organizes and operates a political and economic system consistent with its Buddhist worldview. It considers the nature of Bhutan's unique political institutions and its economic touchstone, the pursuit of "Gross National Happiness (GNH)," rather than Gross National Product, as its ordering principle for policy. Ultimately, Tantric State reflects on whether Bhutan's unique model can withstand the forces of globalization and what insights Bhutan might have to share with the rest of us about dilemmas facing Western democracies and the need to pursue development in a more holistic and sustainable way.

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ER  -