Those clowns in Congress did it again. What a bunch of clowns.

The Madheshi parties are still being antagonistic about regional autonomy. I know relatively little about the area in which they live (the Terai,) and very little about the legal or moral basis for their claims (the legal basis seems weak, but I can't say for sure.) I mostly oppose them because of its impact on me: because of this nonsense I had to write an incredibly hasty memo on self-determination and regional autonomy, which are both as much fun as concepts as eating glass is in reality.

Actually, it wasn't that bad, in part because the major international instruments are so vague as to what they mean by "self-determination" that there really isn't that much to say. The real reason to hope the Madhesi quiet down is that this kind of brinksmanship and agitation is a real obstacle to actual progress in forming a new government and re-drafting the constitution.

Ran Hirschl points out that much of the literature on constitutional design argues in favor of "second order" preferences, rather than "first order 'we the people'" style choices, because they can help mitigate ethnic or regional conflicts (49 Wm. & Mary L. Rev 1179, 1181-2). But try convincing people who have had their voices simply ignored for a couple hundred years of the merit of this position...

The Terai also has a changing population, with increasingly large numbers of Muslims, and it's unclear how that will affect the political landscape in the future. Also they have tigers. Lots of tigers. Not as many as they used to, but tigers nonetheless.

I'm going to Thailand tomorrow, to visit the beautiful, intrepid, and occasionally grumpy Kichwa Tembo. If I don't write anything while I'm there, I'll give a complete report on my return to Kathmandu.