Democratisation of Local Government and Local Governance in Kazakhstan
Serik Onalbaiuly Democratisation of Local Government and Local Governance in Kazakhstan Since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 Kazakhstan has aspired to join international community of developed and economically prosperous democracies, and is implementing various institutional and economic reforms. This requires effective government and a public governance mechanism that would ensure taking into account both national and local needs for development. Given its vast territory, small population, and undeveloped infrastructure, improving local government in Kazakhstan is a precursor to achieving these goals. Today, Kazakhstan is still in the process of finding the most applicable model and structure of government that would encompass domestic specificities of development and best global practices. This necessitates the country to both reconsider its past experience of government and public governance development, and analyse foreign models compatible with its domestic development nuances. This research analyses local government and local governance development in Kazakhstan, taking into account historical aspects of development and domestic views of transformation as understood by local practitioners of this process. The research also focuses on evaluating international experience of local governance development, providing case studies of Russia, Armenia, England and Greece. The aim of the research is not to make a direct policy recommendation but it is rather an attempt to understand what development factors are important to consider in the process of transformation and modification of local government and local governance in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan has been trying to build its own unique structures of government often becoming interlocked between paradigms of its own historical development and newly embraced Western-type institutional models. Together with this, Kazakhstan’s membership of the Eurasian Economic Union (hereafter the EAEU) dictates applying development features closely applicable to the Union’s member states, by and large the Russian Federation. However, the reality of integration in the Eurasian space with all its implications for governance has not totally diminished the Kazakhstani aspiration to try models that are used in Western democracies. The analysis of Western experiences alone can undermine important specifics of domestic development in the Eurasian space, whereas only focusing on Post-Soviet countries could lead to undermining the use of developed world practices in the field of development and governance. This thesis aims to provide analysis of international experiences that would include both the historical and modern aspects of local government development in neighbouring countries and accepted global best practices. Therefore, this research analysed both the Western experience in selected countries (United Kingdom and Greece) and the practices executed in the area of the EAEU (Russia and Armenia).
development studies, local government, local governance
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