Who runs local government in Bhutan?

Bhutan's 2008 Constitution says power 'shall be decentralised and devolved to elected local governments'. There are 20 districts (*dzongkhags*), each with a council of elected local leaders, 205 village blocks (*gewogs*) with elected councils, and a few self-governing towns (*thromdes*). Local elections are non-party: candidates may not belong to a political party. Each district is also run by a centrally appointed administrator, the *dzongda*.

Kingdom of Bhutan · Unitary constitutional monarchy (parliamentary democracy since 2008) · Southern Asia

The levels of government below the nation

Level	How it is chosen	What it does
Districts (20): dzongkhag tshogdu (district council)	Council of the elected gup and mangmi of each gewog plus a representative of the town; the dzongda (district administrator) is a civil servant appointed by the central government	Approves district plans and budgets; the dzongda leads district administration.
Self-governing towns (thromdes): Thimphu, Phuentsholing, Gelephu, Samdrup Jongkhar	Thrompon (mayor) and thromde tshogde (town council) directly elected	Urban planning, water, waste, roads, building permits.
Village blocks (205): gewog tshogde	Gup (head) and mangmi (deputy) directly elected; one tshogpa elected for each chiwog	Village development plans, farm roads, local infrastructure; administrative services through the gewog office.
Chiwogs (about 1,000 village clusters)	Tshogpa (representative) directly elected	Link between households and the gewog; calls village meetings (zomdu).

Three questions about local power in Bhutan

Are local leaders elected?

Gups, mangmis, tshogpas, thrompons and town councillors are elected in non-party elections run by the Election Commission of Bhutan. Dzongdas and gewog administrative officers are appointed civil servants.

Which laws set up local government?

Local governments are in the Constitution (Article 22) and the Local Government Act 2009 (amended 2014); monastic bodies are formal but barred from politics; village customs are informal.

Who are local leaders accountable to?

Voters; the Department of Local Governance and the Home Ministry; the Royal Audit Authority and Anti-Corruption Commission.

Traditional and customary authority

Bhutan has no chiefs with legal power today, but religion is central to public life. The Constitution makes Buddhism the 'spiritual heritage' of Bhutan and the central monastic body (Zhung Dratshang, led by the Je Khenpo) receives state support. It also says religious institutions and personalities must 'remain above politics': monks and nuns do not vote or stand for office. Local deities, monasteries (lhakhangs) and village festivals still organise much community life, and village meetings often settle minor disputes before they reach the courts.

Community and neighbourhood power

The *zomdu* (a general meeting of households) is the traditional village assembly and is used under the Local Government Act for consultation on plans. Water users' groups, farmers' cooperatives and community forest groups are common, and households traditionally contribute labour (*woola*) to local works, a practice now reduced.

Points to know

Candidates for local office need a functional literacy test certificate or a formal qualification, as well as non-party status.
Local plans are drawn up 'bottom-up' from chiwog to gewog to district within national Five-Year Plans.
Gelephu Mindfulness City, announced in 2023, is being set up as a special administrative region with its own laws, which will change governance in that area.

Local terms

Dzongkhag: A district.
Gewog: A block of villages with an elected council.
Gup: The elected head of a gewog.
Zomdu: A village meeting of all households.

Sources

Bhutan's Constitution of 2008 (Arts. 3 and 22), Constitute Project, checked 14 October 2026
Election Commission of Bhutan, Election Commission of Bhutan, checked 14 October 2026
Ministry of Home Affairs, Royal Government of Bhutan, checked 14 October 2026
Country profile: Bhutan (subnational government), OECD–UCLG World Observatory on Subnational Government Finance and Investment (SNG-WOFI), checked 14 October 2026