Effects of Rapid Urbanisation on Youth in Mongolia

Winter Edition , December 28th, 2016 Nomadic Mongol tribes have lived on the unforgiving steppes of Central Asia for centuries. Seasonal migrations in search of the best pastures for livestock underpin the Mongols’ nomadic lifestyle. Even today, one-third of all Mongolians are still nomadic herders living a lifestyle largely unchanged since the founding of the...

Youth Participation in Democracy: The Danish Experience

Winter Edition , December 28th, 2016 Danish youth play an important role in maintaining and nursing Danish democracy. This was underscored when the global report by the IEA International Civic and Citizenship Study identified Danish youth as the most democratic-minded among 38 nationalities¹. The study, in particular, praised Danish youth’s active citizenship skills and understanding...

Korean Youth Flap Their Wings Towards Their Dreams

Winter Edition , December 28th, 2016 The Republic of Korea has been a vibrant country in more ways than one and its youth have always played an important role. In just a short time, only 50 years after the Korean War, the Republic of Korea has grown into a powerhouse that ranks 11th in the world economy...

The Need for Critical Thinking Against a Tide of Social Media

Winter Edition , December 28th, 2016 While Tshering Eudön bases her thought piece on her own experience with Facebook, the Druk Journal believes that it is relevant to all Bhutanese wading through the social media landscape. I am a Bhutanese student in my late 20s currently working towards a Masters degree in Public Administration (MPA)...

Inspired and Driven: Aiming High

Winter Edition , December 28th, 2016 A few kilometres from the hustle and bustle of the cosmopolitan city that is Thimphu, in the anonymity and seclusion of an almost invisible location, Bhutan’s first-ever waste transfer station is coming up. The transfer station, on nearly one acre of land, will have magnets to pull metal objects...

Pursuing a Passion: Making a Dream Come True

Winter Edition , December 28th, 2016 Thrinlay Dorji, 29 years old, was born in Bartsham, Tashigang, and raised by his aunt and uncle in Thimphu. His life’s journey—from struggling young student to creative professional—is a story that is often by-passed in the expectations of most youth, most parents, and by society. It is a story...

Reflection on Modernisation and Westernisation

Summer Edition , September 16th, 2016 Words, words, words. Words define our understanding of the world. Words structure our relationships with the world and with each other. Words make the past present to us and project us into the future. Words expose us to reality and enable us to hide from it. Words are the...

A Chasm Between Vision and Policy

Summer Edition , September 16th, 2016 Decisions have shaped human history, established the current global scenarios, and will influence the future of mankind. Decisions have created the world’s systems of government, as well as the legal, economic and social order. As a country and as a society, we have reached where we have reached because...

Building Capacity Without Losing Capacity: Legal Change and Dispute Resolution in Bhutan

Summer Edition , September 16th, 2016 The small group of elected village leaders—or Tshogpas—sat in the courtyard of a Gewog center (local administration office) in the Paro valley. To the left, the Paro Dzong presided majestically over a patchwork of green rice paddies. To the right, the upper reaches of the Paro valley stretched to...

An Analytical Look at Bhutan’s e-Governance Journey: Is the Glass Half-empty or Half-full?

Summer Edition , September 16th, 2016 What is e-Governance? The UNESCO definition is: “e-Governance is the public sector’s use of information and communication technologies with the aim of improving information and service delivery, encouraging citizen participation in the decision-making process and making government more accountable, transparent and effective.”1 e-Governance involves new styles of leadership, new...