Must-Read Books on 'Nepal'

There are several books which are a 'must-read' for people who want to develop their understanding on Nepal's constitutional political development. They are not constitutional legal books though they provide real and historical settings on which the constitutional legal system develops or operates.

Broadly, these books deal with aspects of development of the institutions, attitudes, and values that form the political power system of the Nepalese society. They are books on the emergence of national sovereignty and the integrity of the state, the attributes of constitutional order and political stability, framework of government, procedures for leadership succession, and a consolidation of the territorial administrative reach of government institutions, and nation-building and state-building.

The books on political development as listed below enhances the readers perspective on state's capacity to mobilize and allocate resources in the historical process of change, and to process policy inputs into implementable outputs. This assists with problem-solving and adaptation to environmental changes and goal realization. They also deal with growth of the class consciousness and political organization, the progress towards liberal democracy, involving accountable government, and opportunities for participation (also seen by some as an aspect of modernization, rather than development), through the exercise of freedoms of association and expression. Books on linkages between economic progress and political development are much debated.

As to historical books, extensive use has been made of the Tribhuvan University Library microfilm collection. This includes copies of East India Company correspondence and records preserved in the India Office collection in London and the Indian National Archives collection in the New Delhi. The major part of this bibliography, however, has been based on the original Nepali sources preserved in the documentation section of the Institute of Nepal and Asian studies, Tribhuvan University, and the Regmi Research Collection (including the separate fifty-volume collection of documents refered to throughout this study as the Bhim Sen Thapa Documents). Reference to the East India Company correspondence and records is made according to consultation number and date. References to the Regmi Research collection are to volume number and page. Reference to the Bhim Sen Thapa Documents are made by volume number, document number, and page.

More recent books on democratization and good governance have been included which portray political development as conditions for sustained economic development. The rule of law (and thus respect for property rights) and the development of civil society are also included.

The selection is personal. It is not meant to be exhaustive at all. Some of the books included here have brief notes of Dr Bipin Adhikari attached to them by way of introduction. They are not however expected to be the full-fledged book review by him.