Abstract
Kazakhstan is home to the longest serving ruler in post-Soviet Eurasia while Kyrgyzstan is among the region’s most competitive polities. Do these regime differences correspond to divergence in political attitudes, as an extensive body of literature posits? Are Kyrgyzstanis more likely to strongly support democratic ideals? Are Kazakhstanis less likely? Contrary to expectations, data reveal the two populations to be attitudinally indistinguishable when it comes to strong support for practices associated with democracy. Whatever country differences we find are minor or statistically insignificant. We explain this convergence by shifting focus away from the political features that distinguish the two nascent democracy versus consolidated authoritarianism to those that they hold in common. Notwithstanding major constitutional reform in Kyrgyzstan in 2010, politics there, as in Kazakhstan, remains fundamentally patronal, or patronage- based. Mass attitudes, we argue, align in many ways with the countries’ shared patronal politics, rather than with their contrasting regime types.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Post-Soviet Affairs |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 1 2019 |
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Keywords
- Kazakhstan
- Kyrgyzstan
- patronal politics
- Political attitudes
- regime type
- support for democracy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Sociology and Political Science
- Economics and Econometrics
- Political Science and International Relations
Cite this
Regime type versus patronal politics : a comparison of “ardent democrats” in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. / Junisbai, Barbara; Junisbai, Azamat.
In: Post-Soviet Affairs, 01.01.2019.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Regime type versus patronal politics
T2 - a comparison of “ardent democrats” in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan
AU - Junisbai, Barbara
AU - Junisbai, Azamat
PY - 2019/1/1
Y1 - 2019/1/1
N2 - Kazakhstan is home to the longest serving ruler in post-Soviet Eurasia while Kyrgyzstan is among the region’s most competitive polities. Do these regime differences correspond to divergence in political attitudes, as an extensive body of literature posits? Are Kyrgyzstanis more likely to strongly support democratic ideals? Are Kazakhstanis less likely? Contrary to expectations, data reveal the two populations to be attitudinally indistinguishable when it comes to strong support for practices associated with democracy. Whatever country differences we find are minor or statistically insignificant. We explain this convergence by shifting focus away from the political features that distinguish the two nascent democracy versus consolidated authoritarianism to those that they hold in common. Notwithstanding major constitutional reform in Kyrgyzstan in 2010, politics there, as in Kazakhstan, remains fundamentally patronal, or patronage- based. Mass attitudes, we argue, align in many ways with the countries’ shared patronal politics, rather than with their contrasting regime types.
AB - Kazakhstan is home to the longest serving ruler in post-Soviet Eurasia while Kyrgyzstan is among the region’s most competitive polities. Do these regime differences correspond to divergence in political attitudes, as an extensive body of literature posits? Are Kyrgyzstanis more likely to strongly support democratic ideals? Are Kazakhstanis less likely? Contrary to expectations, data reveal the two populations to be attitudinally indistinguishable when it comes to strong support for practices associated with democracy. Whatever country differences we find are minor or statistically insignificant. We explain this convergence by shifting focus away from the political features that distinguish the two nascent democracy versus consolidated authoritarianism to those that they hold in common. Notwithstanding major constitutional reform in Kyrgyzstan in 2010, politics there, as in Kazakhstan, remains fundamentally patronal, or patronage- based. Mass attitudes, we argue, align in many ways with the countries’ shared patronal politics, rather than with their contrasting regime types.
KW - Kazakhstan
KW - Kyrgyzstan
KW - patronal politics
KW - Political attitudes
KW - regime type
KW - support for democracy
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U2 - 10.1080/1060586X.2019.1568144
DO - 10.1080/1060586X.2019.1568144
M3 - Article
JO - Post-Soviet Affairs
JF - Post-Soviet Affairs
SN - 1060-586X
ER -