Nepal, Feb. 4 -- US President John F Kennedy famously said, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." It is cliched and is often dismissed as irrelevant idealism and the sort of rhetoric that only applies to rich, orderly societies. But that mindset is what gets things backwards in the first place. Our chronic failure to internalise this idea in Nepal explains more about our democratic malaise than any single constitution or conspiracy.

Nepal's leadership class has been spectacularly mediocre and self-serving. As we head towards the much-anticipated general elections next month, we need to introspect and acknowledge that we, the people, bear a substantial share of responsibility for our country's s...