The Bhutan Centre for Media and Democracy (BCMD) is the first civil society organization in Bhutan dedicated to the creation of a culture of democracy. The centre initiates and supports training and seminars, publications, research and interaction to strengthen public discourse, enhance professionalism in the Bhutanese media and create a better understanding of democratic institutions and processes. BCMD organized the Paro Conference on Emerging Democracies in the 21st century to explore the variety of institutional and constitutional structures that charaterise contemporary monarchies in “democratising” polities. This publication is the result of the conference held in May 2009.