Institutional Change and Political Continuity in Post-Soviet Central Asia
Power, Perceptions, and Pacts

This book examines the diversity of electoral systems in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

Pauline Jones Luong (Author)

9780521801096, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 29 April 2002

344 pages, 8 b/w illus. 38 tables
23.7 x 16 x 2.3 cm, 0.614 kg

Review of the hardback: 'This book will hopefully be the first of many applying the tools of comparative politics to Central Asia, thereby furthering our understanding of the region. Its combination of theory and quality of research will ensure that this book is warmly welcomed by both Central Asia specialists and transitologists alike.' Slavonic & East European Review

The establishment of electoral systems in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan presents both a complex set of empirical puzzles and a theoretical challenge. Why did three states with similar cultural, historical, and structural legacies establish such different electoral systems? How did these distinct outcomes result from strikingly similar institutional design processes? Explaining these puzzles requires understanding not only the outcome of institutional design but also the intricacies of the process that led to this outcome. Moreover, the transitional context in which these three states designed new electoral rules necessitates an approach that explicitly links process and outcome in a dynamic setting. This book provides such an approach. Finally, it both builds on the key insights of the dominant approaches to explaining institutional origin and change and transcends these approaches by moving beyond the structure versus agency debate.

1. The continuity of change: old formulas and new institutions
2. Explaining institutional design in transitional states: beyond structure versus agency
3. Sources of continuity: the Soviet legacy in Central Asia
4. Sources of change: the transitional context in Central Asia
5. The electoral system in Kyrgyzstan: rise of the regions
6. The electoral system in Uzbekistan: revenge of the center
7. The electoral system in Kazakhstan: the center's rise and the regions' revenge
8. Institutional change through continuity: shifting power and prospects for democracy.

Subject Areas: Political economy [KCP]