This region’s five republics have just lived through a remarkable first decade of independence that raises questions about “preconditions”-based theories of democratization.
About the Author
Kathleen Collins is associate professor of political science at the University of Minnesota. Her most recent book is Clan Politics and Regime Transition in Central Asia (2006). She has done extensive field research in Kyrgyzstan and its neighbors, and writes frequently about the travails of democratization in the Central Asian region.
Kyrgyzstan’s parliamentary-style constitution was a democratic bright spot in Central Asia. But the legislature quickly devolved into a corrupt bazaar, dimming its democratic prospects.
Turkmenistan’s authoritarian president Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov attempted to use sham democratic elections in February 2017 to bolster his legitimacy both at home and abroad.
