A kirgiz parlamentáris kísérlet perspektívái – egy deviáns eset vizsgálata
The Perspectives of the Kyrgyz Parliamentary Experiment – a Deviant Case Study

Summary/Abstract: In the nineties, related to the debate on the opening study titled “The Perils of Presidentialism” written by Juan Linz, in the special literature of political science a productive debate evolved regarding the effects exercised by the forms of parliamentary and presidential government on the democratic transition and the consolidation of democracy. Our study, using the theoretical frames of the “neo-institutional debate”, makes an attempt to analyse the experience so far obtained from the “Kyrgyz parliamentary attempt” which evolved in relation to the revolution in 2010. In our opinion, regarding several determining features of the Kyrgyz political system, it is similar to the “standard Central Asian model” represented by the other four post-Soviet successor states. The Kyrgyz political system can be characterized by a low level of institutionalization and party formation in politics, a strongly person-centred political culture, as well as the informal dominance of regional clans. In addition to this, in the southern part of the country, ethnic conflicts and Jihadist radicals becoming active in the recent years mean serious destabilizing factors. The change to the form of parliamentary government may cause permanent change of the above features in the long run: it may catalyse the process of party formation and reduce the person-centred nature of Kyrgyz domestic politics, as well as it may promote cooperation among the regional élite groups. By doing so, it may greatly contribute to the success of democratic transition in Kyrgyzstan. At the same time, parliamentary governance also involves serious risks in the present Kyrgyz conditions: if the role of the real programme-based political parties cannot be strengthened to the detriment of the informal clans then in the lack of real political parties at fi rst the destabilizing effects of parliamentarism may emerge and then the whole Kyrgyz political system may even destabilized.

• Details
• Contents