This week, the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan will hold its first democratic election.
That election will install a parliament, pass a new constitution and dilute the powers of a popular monarch. Later this year, Bhutan plans to join the World Trade Organization, even though its industry comprises little more than high-end tourism and hydroelectric power.
As Bhutan enters these uncharted political and economic waters, its leaders want to prove that they can achieve economic growth while maintaining good governance, protecting the environment and preserving an ancient culture. To do that, they've decided to start calculating Gross National Happiness (GNH). It means coming up with an actual happiness index that tracks the pursuit of happiness over time.
The government has contracted a local think tank to conduct a nationwide survey to determine what makes people happy and what makes them sad or stressed out. Researchers have fanned out across the country, interviewing more than 1,000 households, according to Karma Ura, head of the center. Karma Tshiteem, head of the Gross National Happiness Commission, will use these data to create economic growth policies that won't disrupt Bhutan's traditional way of life.
Happiness as defined by King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who is credited with creating GNH and whose philosophy still guides the commission, can be found in a life that incorporates cultural traditions and respects the natural world. Traditional Bhutanese robes are required dress for all nationals in government buildings, for instance. It is national policy for 60% of the country to be covered in forests (the actual figure is slightly above 70%). Public smoking is also banned.
By traditional economic measures, Bhutan is doing pretty well, averaging about 7% growth annually over the past decade. That's on par with its neighbor India, but slower than China to the north. About one quarter of the country lives below the poverty line, and an expanding population of young people are in search of jobs, says Mr. Tshiteem. "We must keep up with the aspirations of our children," he says.
"Everybody must have meaning in his life," says the center's director, Mr. Ura. Mr. Tshiteem adds that the concept of GNH has forced him to think more broadly about what adds and subtracts from a person's well-being--and how that affects the national mood. GNH isn't a tool to tell policy makers where to build roads, he says.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, March 22, 2008