Gross National Happiness (GNH)

What Is Gross National Happiness (GNH)?

Gross national happiness (GNH) is a measure of economic and moral progress that the king of the Himalayan country of Bhutan presented during the 1970s as an alternative to [gross domestic product](/gross domestic product). As opposed to zeroing in rigorously on quantitative economic measures, gross national happiness considers an advancing mix of personal satisfaction factors.

The kingdom of Bhutan's most memorable legal code, written at the hour of unification in 1729, stated that "in the event that the government can't make happiness for its kin, there is no purpose for the government."

Figuring out Gross National Happiness (GNH)

King Jigme Singye Wangchuck told the Financial Times in a 1972 meeting that "gross national happiness is a higher priority than gross national product." It isn't clear how genuinely King Jigme had thoroughly considered this new measurement, yet Bhutanese researchers have since gotten the thought and run with it. The GNH has developed into a to some degree logical measure of the once-isolated kingdom's economic and moral development.

In 1998, the government of Bhutan laid out the Center for Bhutan Studies and Gross National Happiness (CBSGNH) to conduct research on the point. The organization's command was to foster a GNH index and indicators that the government could build into its public policy choices. Bhutan could then share this structure with the outside world, with which the isolated Himalayan country was progressively in touch.

With that in mind, the GNH Center in Bumthang developed what it calls the four mainstays of GNH. These are great governance, sustainable development, preservation and promotion of culture, and environmental protection. The 2008 constitution directs that administrators must consider every while thinking about new legislation.

These points of support give the foundation to the happiness, which is manifest in the nine domains of GNH: mental prosperity, standard of living, great governance, wellbeing, community imperativeness, social diversity, time use, and environmental versatility.

The 2012 GNH Index Report

The CBSGNH distributed an official report of its research into GNH in 2012. The report draws upon data collected and refined in pre-surveys in 2006 and 2008, then a conventional survey in 2010. In this report, the center gives an outline of national performance across the nine domains depicted previously. Every domain is weighted similarly, yet the indicators that go toward every domain's rating are scaled by the subjectivity of that indicator.

The research takes into consideration such countless parts and domains of happiness since it works on the assumption that happiness is a complex concern. True satisfaction follows from the feeling that others are cheerful, in addition to oneself. In Bhutan, the quest for happiness is a collective one, however a critical portion of the sentiment comes from the inside. The nine-domain structure of GNH endeavors to capture that complex pursuit.

Features

• The "four points of support" of GNH are great governance, sustainable development, preservation and promotion of culture, and environmental protection.
• The Bhutanese government considers the four mainstays of GNH while choosing to pass laws.
• Gross national happiness (GNH) is a measure of economic and moral progress that the country of Bhutan presented during the 1970s as an alternative to gross domestic product.