Autocratic Monarchy: Politics in Panchayat Nepal By L.S. Baral
This book is a collection of thirteen articles on politics in Nepal during the first two decades of the Panchayat System written by the political historian and literary. The first part of the part of the book begins with an article on the 1959 Constitution of Nepal and is followed by an overview of the political experiments of the 1950s. The next three chapters analyze King Mahendras coup of 1960 and the ensuring new order and the shifting loyalties of the non Nepali Congress leaders. The first elections under the Panchayat System and the so called class organizations are the subjects of two middle chapters. The author also describes discusses the work of Panchayats opponents during the 1960s and analyzes the changes undergone by the Panchayat System until the mid 1970s. This book is an important contribution to the recent political history of Nepal and should be required reading for anyone who wants to understand how Nepal came to be ruled by autocratic monarchs under the Panchayat.
