Monarchy & democracy in the 21st century
Contributors: Bhutan Centre for Media and Democracy
Publisher: Bhutan Centre for Media and Democracy
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Thimpu, Bhutan
Language: eng
Number of pages: 211
ISBN-13: 9789993680307
Subjects: Monarchy; Congresses; Democracy
Other titles: Monarchy and democracy in the 21st century
Description: "There has been very little discourse on one of the oldest and most important political institutions in Human history monarchy. The portrayal of royalty has been largely ceremonial and existing literature on monarchy, particularly in the second half of the 20th century, is overwhelmingly a literature of nostalgia. Based on the premise that this subject deserves deeper discussion, 16 journalists and scholars met in Paro, Bhutan, in May, 2009, to share their views on the role of monarchy in the context of emerging democracies in the 21st century. Their conversations prompted this collection of essays on monarchies around the world, through different periods of history, from the powerful Juan Carlos of Spain to the soft power of the Scandinavian monarchies, from the important symbolic function of Japan's monarchy to the volatile situation in Thailand today, from the demise of monarchy in Nepal to the democratic constitutional monarchy in Bhutan. The papers are not meant to be definitive statements on the topic of monarchy and democracy, but they are offered in the hope that they will lead to discussion and a better understanding of the relationship between monarchy and democracy against the background of the experiences of transformation in different political, social, economic and cultural environments across the world." --Back cover.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: 1. Monarchy and democracy; title: 2. The relevance of Hegelian monarchy: modern dynastics, political crises and the 'Perfect Prince'; title: 3. The limits of constitutional monarchy in Scandinavia; title: 4. Democracy and monarchy in Thailand; title: 5. The future of Thai monarchy; title: 6. Lessons from Japan's symbolic monarchy; title: 7. The story of the demise of the monarchy in Nepal; title: 8. Onace upon a time: the rise and fall of the Nepal monarchy; title: 9. Media, monarchy and the management of official memory. Juancarlisimo; title: 10. Self-censorship: a means to an end; title: 11. The Bhutanese media and a democratic constitutional monarchy; title: 12. Bhutan's 'Democratic constitutional monarchy': revisiting kingship and democratic transition theories; title: 13. Bhutan's democratic journey.