REGIME TRANSITION, PATH DEPENDENCY AND COMPLEXITIES OF DEMOCRATIZATION IN CENTRAL ASIA

The studies of regime transition have gained notable prominence in political science particularly following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Considerable interests towards democratic governance resulted in a kind of literature boom with trajectory arguments in the political transitions of the newly independent states of Soviet Union. Optimistic expectations for a new wave of democratization soon gave way to concerns regarding the resilience and perseverance of authoritarianism and to a conceptual and theoretical testing and questioning process for comparative studies. This study focuses on the regime transition of five Central Asian republics by paying attention to similarities and differences as they share a common history, yet they have embarked on distinct paths of political transition since gaining independence. The study aims to provide an overview of the transition process with references to historical legacy, factors of path dependency, challenges, and prospects of democratization. It will examine key themes and debates within the existing scholarly work, highlighting the complex and often restrained nature of transitions in this strategically important region. It will encompass the complexities of democratization by including an examination of the country- specific trajectories, the key challenges and obstacles in a comparative regional perspective.