The Politics of Stability in Kazakhstan: Depoliticising Participation Through Consultative Ideology?

Kazakhstan’s National Council for Public Trust was created in response to the protests before and after the 2019 presidential elections and was promoted by the regime as a platform for dialogue between state and society. Such consultative institutions have been studied primarily through institutional–functional perspectives, which remain, however, unclear about the motives for setting up such councils and their effects. Based on an analysis of official narratives, this essay argues that Kazakhstan’s National Council was established to promote a consultative ideology that advocates for state-organised dialogue between citizens and the government. As part of Kazakhstan’s politics of stability, consultative ideology aimed at depoliticising requests for democratisation and civil society participation. However, as the regime did not fully deliver on its promise to involve relevant stakeholders and allow an open debate, official narratives were rejected by the protest movement and thus had limited depoliticising effects. It thus remains doubtful that consultative ideology will be effective and accepted by the general population.