Democratization or Authoritarian Stability? The Different Paths of Georgia and Azerbaijan

• Published in: Orta Asya ve Kafkasya araştırmaları Vol. 7; no. 14; pp. 66 - 92
• Main Author: Filetti, Andrea
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Turkish
• Published: 01-01-2012
• Subjects: Authoritarianism (Political Ideology); Azerbaijan; Classification; Democratization; Economic Development; Political Development; Postcommunist Societies; Stability
• ISSN: 1306-682X

The comparison between the 20-year political development of Georgia and Azerbaijan sheds light on some of the most important factors that have influenced their historical patterns, determining their first parallel development and their subsequent divergence: the interplay between weak formal institutions and strong informal ones and the different economic performances. This article retraces and compares Georgian and Azerbaijani post-Soviet experiences and argues that it is possible to characterize them as a three- stage development, punctuated by two different "critical junctures" to which Georgia and Azerbaijan has answered in different ways. Weak formal institutions have caused the opening of the first one, determining the Georgian and Azerbaijani decision to count on their Soviet legacy in the name of stability. The respective economic performances have determined the different possibilities to open a second window of opportunity (the second critical juncture) and the informal institutions have then played a decisive role in orienting the direction of the national politics. As a result, Georgia and Azerbaijan have passed through an increasingly diverging development and this has determined their current different classification within the broad category of "hybrid regimes". Adapted from the source document.