Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Prologue
- PART I WAVES OF REGIME CHANGE: FROM DICTATORSHIP TO DEMOCRACY…AND BACK?
- PART II ENCOURAGING DEMOCRACY: THE ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
- PART III CHOOSING REGIME CHANGE: DEMOCRATIZING ELECTIONS
- PART IV RESISTING REFORM: BACKSLIDING DEMOCRACIES AND ENDURING AUTOCRACIES
- 9 Resistance to Contagion
- 10 Comparing Oranges and Apples
- 11 Contagion Deterred
- 12 A Horse of a Different Color
- Epilogue
- Index
- References
12 - A Horse of a Different Color
Revolution and Regression in Kyrgyzstan
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Prologue
- PART I WAVES OF REGIME CHANGE: FROM DICTATORSHIP TO DEMOCRACY…AND BACK?
- PART II ENCOURAGING DEMOCRACY: THE ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
- PART III CHOOSING REGIME CHANGE: DEMOCRATIZING ELECTIONS
- PART IV RESISTING REFORM: BACKSLIDING DEMOCRACIES AND ENDURING AUTOCRACIES
- 9 Resistance to Contagion
- 10 Comparing Oranges and Apples
- 11 Contagion Deterred
- 12 A Horse of a Different Color
- Epilogue
- Index
- References
Summary
If Ukraine was destined to have a democratic breakthrough because of the dream of a “return to Europe,” and Georgia, a Christian, historically Russophobe country, maintained the possibility of joining NATO and perhaps one day the European Union, then Kyrgyzstan, a small, mostly Muslim country in Central Asia surrounded by repressive authoritarian countries, had few external incentives for a democratic revolution. Neither were the internal conditions especially propitious: Kyrgyzstan is a poor country with a weak civil society that, prior to 1991, had no history as an independent state. President Askar Akaev, once known as a liberalizer, in later years backtracked on his early reforms and pushed Kyrgyzstan in a more autocratic direction. Nevertheless, to the surprise of many, Akaev was overthrown in 2005 following fraudulent parliamentary elections, leading to only the second transfer of power in Central Asia since independence. Kyrgyzstan thus appeared to join the wave of popular uprisings that began in Eastern Europe, traveled east through former Soviet, but still ostensibly European, nations, and finally ended up in the heart of Asia.
How are we to make sense of this case, which, on one hand, lacked most of the structural prerequisites for democracy – a middle class, a high level of development, a tradition of nationalism, and some prior experience with democracy or independent statehood – but on the other hand showed some promising signs of pluralism?
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Democracy and Authoritarianism in the Postcommunist World , pp. 300 - 324Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009
References
, “The Uncertain Future of Russia's Weak State Authoritarianism.” East European Politics & Societies, 21 (2007), pp. 67–81CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, “Ukraine's ‘Return to Europe’: Path Dependence as a Source of Mutual Elite Misunderstanding.” Perspectives on European Politics and Society, 8 (December 2007), pp. 528–43CrossRefGoogle Scholar
and , “The Rise of Competitive Authoritarianism.” Journal of Democracy, 13 (April 2002), pp. 51–65CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, “Toward a Fourth Generation of Revolutionary Theory.” Annual Review of Political Science, 4 (2001), 139–87, esp. 142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, “Transitions from Postcommunism.” Journal of Democracy, 16 (July 2005), pp. 5–19CrossRefGoogle Scholar
and , “Modes of Transition and Democratization: South America and Eastern Europe in Comparative Perspective.” Comparative Politics, 29 (April 1997), pp. 343–62CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, “Colored Revolutions: High Hopes and Broken Promises,” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) (November 21, 2007), available at http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/pp112307.shtml. June 21, 2009Google Scholar
, “Kyrgyzstan: How Wealthy Is the Ousted Kyrgyz Leader's Family?” RFE/RL (April 18, 2005), available at http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1058559.html. June 21, 2009Google Scholar
, The Central Asian Economies since Independence, p. 13 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2006)Google Scholar
Political Transition in Kyrgyzstan: Problems and Prospects (Osh/Brussels: International Crisis Group (ICG), August 11, 2004)
, “Constraining Democratic Development: Institutions and Party System Formation in Kyrgyzstan,” Demokratizatsiya, 5 (Summer 1997), pp. 351–75Google Scholar
, “NGOs in Central Asia.” Alliance, 7 (March 2002), available at http://www.globalpolicy.org/ngos/role/globalact/state/2002/0302asia.htm. June 21, 2009Google Scholar
, “The Civic Realm in Kyrgyzstan,” In , The Transformation of Central Asia, p. 240 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2004)Google Scholar
, “Regime Cycles: Democracy, Autocracy, and Revolution in Post-Soviet Eurasia.” World Politics, 58 (October 2005), pp. 133–65CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, “A Tulip Revolution Develops in Kyrgyzstan,” Central Asia/Caucasus Analyst (March 23, 2005)Google Scholar
, Institutional Change and Political Continuity in Post-Soviet Central Asia, Chap. 3 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002), pp. 51–101CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, “Kyrgyz Audiences Demand End to Radio Silence,” RFE/RL (December 15, 2008), available at http://www.rferl.org/content/Kyrgyz_Audiences_Demand_End_To_Radio_Silence/1360047.html. June 21, 2009Google Scholar
, “Securing Property in Contemporary Kyrgyzstan.” Post-Soviet Affairs, 24, No. 2 (2008), pp. 149–76CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, “Criminal State at Play: An Examination of State–Crime Relations in Post-Soviet Union Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.” Jane's Intelligence Review (March 1, 2007)Google Scholar
, “Kyrgyzstan: Follow the Money – The Akaev Investigation,” RFE/RL (May 5, 2005), available at http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/business/articles/pp050505.shtml. June 21, 2009Google Scholar
, “Three Years on, Kyrgyz President Taken to Task for Rampant Nepotism,” RFE/RL (July 10, 2008), available at http://www.rferl.org/content/Three_Years_On_Kyrgyz_President_Taken_To_Task_For_Nepotism_/1182894.html. June 21, 2009Google Scholar
, The State–Crime Nexus in Central Asia: State Weakness, Organized Crime, and Corruption in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan (Central Asia–Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program, 2006), Washington, DC, p. 91Google Scholar
, “Foreign Aid and Rent-Seeking,” Journal of International Economics, 51, No. 2 (August 2000), pp. 437–61CrossRefGoogle Scholar
and , “The Resource Curse Hypothesis and Its Transmission Channels,” Journal of Comparative Economics, 32, No. 1 (March 2004), 181–93CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, “Central Asia's Poorest States in Crisis,” Institute of War and Peace Reporting (February 15, 2008), available at http://www.iwpr.net/?p=rca&s=f&o=342698&apc_state=henh. June 21, 2009Google Scholar
, Modern Clan Politics: The Power of “Blood” in Kazakhstan and Beyond, (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2004)Google Scholar
, Clan Politics and Regime Transition in Central Asia (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006)Google Scholar
, Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993)Google Scholar
, Bonds and Bridges: Social Capital and Poverty, Policy Research Working Paper Series, No. 2167 (Washington, DC: World Bank, 1999)Google Scholar
and , “Citizen–Politician Linkages: An Introduction,” in Patrons, Clients, and Policies, and , eds. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
and , “Favorable Conditions and Electoral Revolutions,” Journal of Democracy, 17 (October 2006), pp. 5–18CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, “Structure and Example in Modular Political Phenomena: The Diffusion of Bulldozer/Rose/Orange/Tulip Revolutions,” Perspectives on Politics, 5 (June 2007), pp. 259–76CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, “Why the Kremlin Likes the CIA,” RFE/RL (October 1, 2007), available at http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1078841.htmlGoogle Scholar
, “Kyrgyzstan: Politicians Underline Pro-Russian Stances ahead of SCO Summit,” RFE/RL (August 10, 2007), available at http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1078082.html. June 21, 2009Google Scholar
, “Promoting Democracy: Is Exporting Revolution a Constructive Strategy?” Dissent (Winter 2006), 84–9Google Scholar
, “US Helped Prepare the Way for Kyrgyzstan's Uprising,” New York Times (March 30, 2005)Google Scholar
and , “Youth and Electoral Revolutions in Slovakia, Serbia, and Georgia,” SAIS Review 26 (Summer–Fall 2006), pp. 55–65CrossRefGoogle Scholar
“Kyrgyzstan's Tulip Revolution: Interview with Roza Otunbayeva,” Demokratizatsiya, 13 (Fall 2005), pp. 483–9CrossRef
, “Networks, Localism, and Mobilization in Aksy, Kyrgyzstan,” Central Asian Survey 24 (December 2005), pp. 405–24CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, “Civil War Grows Closer as Kyrgyz Leaders Fall Out over Parliament,” Times Online (March 28, 2005)Google Scholar
, “The Fourth Wave of Democracy and Dictatorship.” World Politics, 54, No. 2 (2002), pp. 212–44CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, “Democracy or Autocracy on the March? The Colored Revolutions as Normal Dynamics of Paternal Presidential,” Communist and Post-communist Studies, 39, No. 3 (September 2006), pp. 305–29CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 1
- Cited by