Kyrgyzstan
Labelled Central Asia’s “exceptional state” by Cooley and Heathershaw (2017), Kyrgyzstan has often stood alone in the region. While its neighbors quickly transitioned from communism to a new system of strong-man rule, at least at first, Kyrgyzstan embraced liberalization (Cooley and Heathershaw, 2017). Market reforms and political pluralism raised expectations that the country could become an island of democracy in the region (Engvall and Laruelle, 2015).
However, it did not take long for such hopes to be dashed. Under the country’s first president, Askar Akayev, initial reforms gave way to an increasingly corrupt and paternalistic political system. After Akayev was toppled in the 2005 Tulip Revolution, his replacement, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, continued in this vein, suppressing opponents and asserting his family’s control over the country (Cooley and Heathershaw, 2017).
The 2010 overthrow of President Bakiyev brought a new sense of optimism. A new interim government oversaw a return to the parliamentary system that had been eroded under the country’s first two presidents and in 2017 Kyrgyzstan conducted the first democratic transfer of power in the Central Asian region.
Driving these events, is a legacy of informality. From the clan ties emphasized by Collins (2002) to the patronage networks explored by Ismailbekova (2017), informal practices and relations have an important place in Kyrgyz society. In this entry, we explore these very factors, paying particular attention to the ways in which they are shaped in an increasingly globalized world.
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Bibliography
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Cooley, A. and Heathershaw, J. (2017). Dictators Without Borders. New Haven: Yale University Press.
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Collins, K. (2002). Clans, Pacts, and Politics in Central Asia. Journal of Democracy, 13(3), pp.137-152.
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Engvall, J. and Laruelle, M. ed., (2015). Kyrgyzstan Beyond "Democracy Island" and "Failing State": Social and Political Changes in a Post-Soviet Society. Lanham: Lexington Books.
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Ismailbekova, A. (2017). Blood Ties and the Native Son. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.