Comparative Government

Topic: Comparative Politics Analysis between Bhutan and India
Introduction
Comparative politics is a subfield of political science that involves the systematic study and
analysis of different political systems, governments, and political process of different countries.
It includes the study of features and legal powers of political institution in various countries.
Comparative politics aims to understand the parallels and differences between nation’s political
systems, their structures, function, and impact of various factors on political outcomes.
Comparing different countries using comparative methods helps to understand different political
gests and enable the researchers to draw perceptivity and conclusions. It also aim to answer
why certain countries have different types of government, how political parties and electoral
systems work, and how policies and political decisions are made and enforced.
In this paper we will compare two different countries that is Bhutan and India. Bhutan is one of
the small landlocked country located between two giant nations (India & China) with population
of approximately 784.9 thousand. It is a democratic constitutional monarchy with king as the
head of the country and prime minister as the head of the government. On the other hand, India
is a republic nation consisting of 28 states with population of approximately 1.408 billion. It
follow a federal parliamentary democratic republic form of government. This study will examine
the comparison between Bhutan and India, and look into how both these countries differ and
have similarities in terms of their political systems and institutions, political parties and elections,
policy making. By examining the key aspects of these countries, we aim to gain insights into
their similarities and differences and the impact of these factor on their political landscape.
Political Systems and Institutions

Bhutan is democratic constitutional monarchy with king as the head of the state and prime
minister as the head of the government. According to Gyeltshen & Sripokangkul (2017), there
was neither external pressure nor its subject demanded democracy but king himself handed the
power to its citizens becoming the newest and youngest democracy in the year of 2008. Bhutan
politics was influenced by its cultural, historical and ideological factors. Some of the central
guiding principal of Bhutan political landscape are GNH, its strong emphasis on cultural
preservation and its strong believe in Buddhism. The government of Bhutan is composed of
three main branches that is executive, legislative, and judicial. The legislature formulate law and
it consist of National council (Gyalong Tshogde) and the National Assembly (Gyalong Tshogdu).
The National council is the upper house of Bhutan’s bicameral parliament established in 2008. It
consist of twenty five members comprising one members elected from each twenty dzongkhag
and five members selected by his majesty. The national council of members serves for five
years from the date of first sitting of the house. National council act as the house of review on
matters such as security and sovereignty of the country and the interest of nation and its people.
On the other hand, National Assembly is the lower house of Bhutan bicameral parliament that
consist of 47 members elected from both ruling and opposition party. The members of national
assembly also serves for five years from the date of the first sitting. The national assembly is
responsible for passing laws and amending the existing laws in Bhutan. It also play a crucial
role in the approval of national budget.
According to Panikkar 91956) India is in form a federation based on democratic parliamentary
government. Unlike Bhutan with unitary state with a centralized government, India is a federal
country with power division between central government and state government. She follow
bicameral parliamentary form of government in which the president is head of the state and
prime minister is the head of the government. According to Chakrabarty (2008), the main
ideological that influences the India politics are colonialism, nationalism, and democracy. Due to
colonialism there was emergence of nationalism as a powerful ideology to fight against the
colonialism but colonialism led to a slow process of democratization. India have three
branches of government that is legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislative branch of
India consist of house of people (lok sabha), which is the lower house and council of states
(Rajya sabha), which is the upper house of parliament. Both the houses serve distinct functions
and have different roles in the legislative process. The lower house members of the parliament
are elected by the people through election and it play a crucial role in lawmaking, passing of
bills, budget approval, and holds the executive branch accountable for its actions. The upper
house members are elected by the elected members of state legislative assemblies and it play a
crucial role in revising and reviewing bill passed by the lok sabha and ensures the state to have
voice in the legislative process.
Political Parties and Electoral system

Bhutan political party formation was allowed from 2007 and only two party was formed during
that time becoming the multi-party system. Bhutan started forming political party as Bhutan was
undergoing a transition to democracy. When the first general election was conducted in 2008, it
was contested by only two parties, the people’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Druk
phuntshum Tshogpa (DPT). At that time not many party was able to form as Bhutan was at its
early phase of democracy and most of the people were not educated and did not have enough
finance to support the party. The political parties’ leader of Bhutan does not have any rigid
ideologies such as conservative or liberal and all the leader consider GNH as their ideologies
which led to confusion among citizens as people only vote to the parties that they are related
rather than looking at their ideologies. However as the political leaders emphasis on GNH it
result in political parties prioritize the well-being and happiness of their citizens. On the other
hand, India political party came into existence as a reaction against British colonial rule.
According to Masum & Hoque (2016) in their research journal, the first political party to form in
India was the Indian National Congress in 1885 that had successfully became the leading voice
of the Indian middle class, constantly increasing more job opportunities under the colonial
government and for greater political participation. As the Indian National Congress party was the
only registered party, the party system in Indian was a one- party dominant system. However,
as the time passed more party started to form leading to multi-party system in India.
The electoral process in India officially begins on the recommendations of Election
commission and a notification for an election is issue. Seven days are given to candidates to file
their nomination. Every candidates who participate in the election had to make a security
deposit at the time of filing nomination. For lok sabha each candidate must deposit Rs.10, 000/
and for state assembly Rs.5, 000. The security deposit is fortified if candidate fail to get at least
1/6 of the total valid votes polled. For the candidate to participate in election he/she must be
above the age of 25 years. The campaign for every parties is given 48 hours in which the
candidate travel through their constituency to influence the voters to vote in their favor. Further,
in recent times the election commission has granted the parties free access to the state-owned
media to do their campaign. India primary voting system used is first-past-the-post where the
party with the majority votes win the election. On the other hand, Bhutan also have similar
electoral process as India. Firstly, all the candidates fill the nomination papers and submit to the
Election Commission of Bhutan and should pay a security deposit which is determined by the
Election Commission of Bhutan. If a candidates fail to secure a minimum percentage of total
vote cast in their constituency, then the security deposit is fortified. Similar to India, the minimum
age requirement for candidate to participate in election must be above the age of 25 and below
age 65. According to the Election Act of the Kingdom of Bhutan (2008), every candidate and
registered political party is allowed to conduct campaign and they are given 48 hours. The
election commission also allocate equitable time to parties on the cable television and other
media platform. Unlike India, Bhutan primary voting system used is two-round voting system. In
the first round, voters vote for the political parties and the two political parties with highest vote
percentage advance to the second round. In the second round, voters vote for individual
candidates from the two parties and the candidate with most votes in each constituency wins.
Policy Making
According to the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGOB) GNHC is the central coordinating
agency for planning and public policy formulation body. It ensures that the policies and plans
are based on the principle of Gross National Happiness (GNH). Further, GNHC is also
responsible for determining overall resources allocation to ensure that prioritize areas and
sectors receive resources. Bhutan follow the five year planning where it focuses on socio-
economic development and program that are needed to be implemented within the five year
period. The development plans in Bhutan follows extensive consultation from grassroots level to
national level. This ensure public to participate in decision making and share their thoughts and
opinions to the government which directly or indirectly help in formulating effective policies in the
country. The government take into consideration of public opinion on policy formulation and
various ministers and agencies are responsible for formulating policies in their respective areas
such as health, education, and agriculture.
The policy formulation in India begins with the executive branch of government that include
prime minister, cabinet ministers and various ministries and departments. The ministers make
their own decision in their respective fields and refer the decision to the prime minister. Further,
NITI Aayog, the National institution for transforming India is a government of India policy that
was established to replace the planning commission (THE TIMES OF INDIA). The aim of NITI
Aayog is to encourage public involvement and participation in the economic policy-making
process. Unlike Bhutan Policy formulation body, It play a crucial role by inviting globally-reputed
policy-makers, experts, and administrators to India to share their knowledge in policy-making
which help India to make effective policies that can help their state.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Bhutan and India have both similar and difference in their political institution.
Bhutan is democratic constitutional monarchy while India follow the federal government where
power is divided into central and state government. Further, both these countries are democracy
in which power is divided into different body and function differently from each other.
Additionally the party’s formation in both countries differ as Bhutan formed the party and had his
first election to take step towards democracy while India party came into existence to reaction
against British rule. Even though both these countries take account of their people opinion to
making policies but the difference can be notice as India policy-making body invites global
experts to help them in policy-making.

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Topic: Comparative Politics Analysis between Bhutan and India

Political Systems and Institutions

Political Parties and Electoral system

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