Nepal, federalism and participatory constitution-making: deliberative democracy and divided societies

Abstract

In 2008, Nepal reintroduced democracy and elected a Constituent Assembly whose first act was to declare a secular federal democratic republic. The Assembly was tasked with engaging the public in a participatory and deliberative process as it drafted, debated and decided a new federal constitution. This article asks how evaluates how deliberative the process was in practice, and whether the deliberative components influenced decision-making. It demonstrates that, although the political parties assumed the primary role of negotiating the constitution, deliberation occurred at the local level and through the Assembly’s structures and systems. After more than seven years of once polarized debate..