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International Political Science Review
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From Insurgency to Democracy: The Challenges of Peace and Democracy-Building in Nepal

Ganga B. Thapa

Politics and President of the Center for Democracy and Conflict Analysis at Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur Kathmandu, Nepal, thapa_gb{at}yahoo.com

Jan Sharma

Nepal Institute of Development Studies, jansharma{at}gmail.com

The failure of authoritarian and totalitarian regimes spurred a global surge in democratization in the 1980s. However, efforts at democratization have been challenged by path-dependent institutional and political variables that can inhibit the growth of western-style democratic pluralism. Nepal is no exception to this experience. When the king sidelined the political parties in an attempt to revive the absolute monarchy in February 2005, the political parties and the Maoist guerrillas resisted this move and forced the king to revive the dissolved House of Representatives. Subsequently, parliament proclaimed Nepal to be a federal democratic republic, ending the 240-year-old Hindu monarchy. Today, there is both optimism and pessimism regarding the ongoing peace and democracy-building project in Nepal: optimism because there is a consensus, albeit vague, on building political and economic institutions that will transform Nepali society for the better; pessimism because the due process of law is being increasingly thwarted due to the nondemocratic inclinations of political leaders. This article critically reviews the challenges Nepal is facing as it struggles to transform from insurgency to a peaceful and democratic society.

Key Words: democracy • Maoists • insurgency • elections • monarchy • Constituent Assembly • people's war

International Political Science Review, Vol. 30, No. 2, 205-219 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0192512109102437
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