Regarding the first question, most of the sources used for this paper support the conclusion that Western culture is indeed influencing Bhutanese culture significantly. Many of these have already be highlighted throughout the paper, but in summary they can be categorized into changes in youth activities and values, changes in traditional modes of conducting economic transactions, changes in the value (especially among the youth) given to traditional folklore, and a diminishment of attendance to traditional festivals and events. The available literature did not provide much in the way of hard data to suggest how widespread these effects have become, but based on the anecdotal accounts found in many of these sources it would appear they are becoming quite a problem from a cultural preservation perspective. In
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addition, the importation of Western-style democracy has brought with it another problem in this typically unified and non-confrontational country: partisan politics and the conflict wrought by arguing politicians (Simons 2007).