Tibetan Elections in Exile: From Theocratic Monarchy to a Developing Exile Democracy, 1959-2009

Abstract

This thesis examines the nature of the Tibetan exile polity and its gradual transition from a theocratic monarchy to a fledgling democracy based on elections. It describes the formation of the exile community along with the roots and democratic maturation of the Tibetan government-in-exile (the Central Tibetan Administration), with particular attention to the role of elections. It also discusses the emergence of new voices in Tibetan exile civil society and the conflict between those new voices and traditional forms of authority. Finally, it concludes with a discussion of further democratic reforms in the 1990s that paved the way for democratic growth in the new millennium.