ISBN:
9783031065361
Language:
English
Pages:
1 Online-Ressource(XIII, 160 p. 3 illus., 1 illus. in color.)
Edition:
1st ed. 2022.
Series Statement:
The Theories, Concepts and Practices of Democracy
Parallel Title:
Erscheint auch als
Parallel Title:
Erscheint auch als
Keywords:
Comparative government.
;
Asia—Politics and government.
;
Political science.
Abstract:
1. Introduction: Authoritarian Institutions, Regimes and Political Opposition -- 2. Defining, Conceptualising and Theorising Opposition-Regime Relations in Authoritarian Regimes -- 3. Exit, Voice, Loyalty: An Analytical Framework for Opposition Agency in Authoritarian Regimes -- 4. The Development of a Personalist-Authoritarianism Regime in Kazakhstan -- 5. Exit, Voice and Loyalty: Opposition Strategies and Choice from above in Kazakhstan -- 6. Non-Oligarchic Public Voice in Kazakhstan from Below 2011-2022 -- 7. Conclusion.
Abstract:
How might political opposition shape regime outcomes over time in an authoritarian system? Most studies on political opposition in authoritarian contexts tend to focus on the agency of the regime over and above that of the political opposition. Using Albert Hirschman’s framework of exit, voice and loyalty, this book examines the case of Kazakhstani opposition agency over 30 years to explore the extent to which political opposition in Kazakhstan has shaped the dynamics of authoritarian regime development in the country. What the analysis reveals is that in Kazakhstan the regime has tended to treat formal institutional political opposition as neither a credible nor non-credible threat. Consequently, the Kazakhstani regime has always responded to opposition exit and voice with sanctions and institutional adaption which strengthened the regime in the short to medium term, but left them exposed to spontaneous, grassroots non-institutional opposition in the longer term. This spontaneous grassroots opposition emerged in Kazakhstan as a series of ‘shocks’ crystalised in the 2011 events in Zhanaozen, the 2016 land protests, the 2019 election protests and the events of ‘qandy qantar’ (bloody January) in 2022. What this book illustrates is how authoritarian regimes which treat opposition threats ambiguously are likely to end up in a continuous state of instability because the feedback provided by opposition agency disappears leaving the regime susceptible to spontaneous opposition. Rico Isaacs is Professor of International Politics at the University of Lincoln, UK.
DOI:
10.1007/978-3-031-06536-1
Permalink
