Building Democracy In South Asia

4. King vs. Parliament: Democratization in Nepal

Title first published in 2003. Chowdhury looks at the problems of democratization and development as it relates to building democratic institutions in the newly democratizing countries such as Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.

This volume offers a collection of lucid, theoretically stimulating articles that explore and analyse the institutions and values which are salient in understanding political practices in South Asia. Combining a wide range of theoretical and empirical approaches, and blending the work of experts long established in their respective fields with refreshing and innovative approaches by younger scholars, this collaborative and cross-disciplinary endeavour facilitates a deeper understanding of the subcontinent's diverse and complex political and democratic practices in the 21st century.

Papers presented at the International Seminar on Democracy, Nation Building and Peace in South Asia, held at Allahabad in March 2008.

"Multiple paths to nation building in South Asia" is the most popular and controversial subject. Identity-based politics, whether one rejects or accepts, is equally a pressing problem for the countries of the region. The traditional route to national integration and political order is being questioned by the emergence of newer trends in national politics of each country of the region. Questions of minorities, ethnic, regional and suppressed groups (dalits and other highly marginalized communities) need to be tackled by taking appropriate policies so that such groups do not develop the feeling of deprivation. If inclusive democracy and empowerment of marginalized communities can become one of the positive aspects of nation building project, federalism has become yet another design for some countries. Nepal's aspiration for federalism is not the product of well-thought out design, but it has become imperative for nation building in course of time. India and Pakistan are likely to increase some more federal units to address the demands of peoples residing in respective areas making nation building as an ongoing process.

The book...is a significant attempt to study the methodologies adopted by the South Asian countries, while implementing local democratic institutions in their respective countries.

First published in 1989, this widely hailed core text of the dynamics of ethnic identities and movements in the South Asian region is perhaps even more relevant today, as the region faces a resurgence of ethno-nationalist sentiments and the outbreak of new ethnic conflict. Among the features of this thoroughly revised edition are: /-/ - it provides a critical appraisal of various theoretical approaches to the study of ethnicity and nation-building /-/ - delineates the ethnic composition of the South Asian Region/-/ - examines the specific state structures of the countries studied: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives/-/ - discusses various ethnic movements in these countries/-/ - covers the most recent developments in the region