Mongolia: Dependent Democratization

Mongolia is one of the most remarkable outliers in the post-communist universe as regards democratization. It contradicts assumptions from modernization theory, and explanations based on previous democratic episodes or geographical location. It also contradicts those hypotheses that lay an emphasis on 'modes of transition' as well as those that stress the importance of the early replacement of political elites. Moreover, Mongolia has not just embarked on transition, but so far is the only post-communist country east of the Baltic states to have consolidated democracy. This unypical achievement was arrived at in several stages throughout which external and internal, actor-centred and structural factors took on favourable combinations. In particular, external democracy promotion has mattered to an unusual degree in Mongolia. It has interacted with two other crucial factors: (1) the structural features of a small population, and (2) the extraordinarily strong dependence on foreign aid combined with a lack of particular geo-strategic interests of donors.