Varieties and Degrees of Authoritarianism in Central Asia: "Established" vs. "Networked" Patronal Authoritarianism in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to understand the varieties and degrees of authoritarianism in Central Asia. It argues that the concept of "patronal authoritarianism" well describes the regimes there. We may further distinguish between the "established" patronal authoritarianism of Turkmenistan (the most authoritarian country in the region), and the "networked" patronal authoritarianism of Uzbekistan (the second most authoritarian Central Asian country). In the latter, founding president Islam Karimov (in power 1989-2016) relied on a coalition of elite networks, which necessitated balancing power among these factions—a consideration irrelevant to Turkmenistan, where founding president Saparmurad Niyazov (in power 1985-2006) won a clear-cut victory against his opponents and effectively monopolized power. This could explain why the established patronal regime of Turkmenistan under Niyazov was more authoritarian than the networked patronal authoritarianism in Uzbekistan under Karimov. This article also argues that these respective governance structures appear to persist in the two countries.