Post-soviet states of Central Asia: A comparative analysis of political systems’ transformation

The article contains a comparative analysis of processes and results of formation of political systems of four post-Soviet states of Central Asia: Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Based on the distribution of powers in the triangle of institutions of supreme state power: president – parliament – government, the type of political system of all four countries – electoral autocracy – is determined. Its features are the strong power of th e leader-president, often accompanied by the establishment of his personality cult in the society, imitation nature of elections and multiparty system, as well as the subordinate type of parliament. What distinguishes political systems from each other are the form of government (presidentialism in Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, mixed republic in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan) and methods of transit of supreme state power: a) accession to power of a representative of the national elite after the death of the ruler (Turkmenistan, 2006 and Uzbekistan, 2016); b) voluntary resignation of the president and transfer of power to a successor (Kazakhstan, 2019); c) voluntary resignation of the head of state and transfer of the presidential seat to a heir (Turkmenistan, 2022). The strength and vulnerability of the considered political systems serve as a basis for forecasting the development of the situation in the post-Soviet countries of Central Asia and assessing scenarios from the point of view of Russia’s national interests.