Women in Public Office

Bhutan’s latest civil service figures raise a question that its election results cannot easily answer. If women make up more than two in every five government employees, why are they so rarely seen leading elected institutions? According to the Royal Civil Service Commission’s Annual Report 2024–2025, Bhutan has 12,390 female civil servants among a total workforce of 30,025—41.3 per cent of government employees. Yet their presence in elected institutions remains considerably smaller. Only two of the 47 members elected to the Fourth National Assembly in 2024 were women. The National Council has just one elected woman, while nine women serve as gups, the elected heads of local governments.

The contrast raises an important question about the relationship between women’s participation in public administration and their access to political authority. Part of the explanation lies in the different requirements of administrative employment and electoral politics. Entry into the civil service generally follows an established process involving educational qualifications, examinations, and professional recruitment.

Electoral politics, by contrast, involves substantial uncertainty. Candidates must build public support, establish political networks, organise campaigns, and commit financial and personal resources without any guarantee of success. For individuals with established careers, contesting an election can therefore carry considerable professional and economic risks. Bhutan’s constitutional and electoral framework requires civil servants to remain politically neutral, while election-participation rules may require them to leave government employment before contesting office. Consequently, a woman who has spent years developing her administrative career may have to give up a secure position to pursue an uncertain political opportunity.

Such requirements apply to men as well as women. The key question is whether the consequences differ by gender. Women with fewer independent financial resources or greater household responsibilities may face additional difficulties in deciding whether to leave stable employment. Family responsibilities represent another possible obstacle. Electoral campaigns often require extensive travel, attendance at public meetings, evening commitments, and prolonged periods away from home. Where women carry a disproportionate share of childcare, household management and care for elderly relatives, participation in political activities can become difficult without substantial family support.

Cultural explanations often account for women’s limited political representation, but references to tradition alone are insufficient. They do not explain precisely how potential candidates are discouraged, how parties select nominees, or how voters assess women seeking office. Women with fewer opportunities to participate in such networks may therefore struggle to build political support.

This does not necessarily mean that voters are unwilling to elect women. The low number of successful female candidates may also reflect the limited number entering electoral contests in the first place.

Bhutan has generally emphasised awareness, capacity-building, and encouragement to increase women’s political participation. Leadership training, civic education, and programmes supporting prospective female candidates can help women build political knowledge, public-speaking skills, and confidence.

These measures matter, but they may not overcome the structural barriers to contesting elections. A woman may complete a leadership programme and still lack the financial resources, family support, party connections, or time needed to run an effective campaign. The distinction between preparing women for leadership and enabling them to obtain elected office is therefore important. A quota system could increase women’s representation by requiring parties to nominate a specified proportion of female candidates or by reserving a number of seats for women. However, its effects would depend on how the system is designed.