Collins, Kathleen. "Clans, Pacts, and Politics in Central Asia". Journal of Democracy, Vol.13, No.3 (2002): 137-152.

Collins, Kathleen. "Clans, Pacts, and Politics in Central Asia". Journal of Democracy, Vol.13, No.3 (2002): 137-152.

• The author claims that despite the divergent trajectories of the Central Asian republics following independence, the chaos of Tajikistan, the autocracy of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, and the limited democratization of the Kyrgyz Republic, are all based on informal power structures of 'clans' (138).
• To many observers the transition of the Kyrgyz Republic towards democracy seems extremely confusing. The Central Asian republics seemed to be divided along ethnic and religious lines, be dominated by 'clans', and suffer from a legacy of autocratic Russian and Soviet rule. The early success of Kyrgyz democracy makes the causes for differentiation between the republics more confusing (138-139).
• While all the states have resisted full democratization, they have done so in different ways and on different trajectories. This implies that none of the common arguments about Central Asian politics have been correct because cultural essentialism, Soviet legacies, and economic rationale would all predict similar post independence outcomes (140-141).
• The author claims that clans are a segmentary kinship institution based on actual or imagined blood relations with a group of people. They serve in a modern economy to create informal power networks and thus mediate high transactional costs implicit in the bureaucratic Soviet economy (142).
• In a society where clan networks remain powerful, but the state is severely weakened -- such as Afghanistan or the Central Asian republics following independence, the clans might replace the state as the primary method of societal organization, creating a system of mafia rule where public resources are plundered for the gain of the extended kinship group (143).
• Despite comparisons, Dr. Collins holds that the 'clans' of Central Asia are fundamentally different than the mafia groups and oligarchs that dominate politics in Russia and Ukraine. The author further argues that clans cannot be reduced to clientism, but represent a more fundamental division within Central Asian society based on pre-modern societies developed around segmentary kinship groups (143).
• The author believes that ethnic Russians within the Central Asian republics are without clans, implying that 'clans' are a uniquely Central Asian institution that has no basis in Slavic or European culture (148).
• The author explains the divergent political realities of the Central Asian republics in terms of the success of each leader in creating an alliance or pact between powerful clans. In the Kyrgyz Republic, the pact between clans was strong and stable enough to support more trust and increase room for political maneuvering, whereas the weakness of the clan alliance in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan means that stability requires more direct control. The failure to create a stable pact between major clans resulted in civil war in Tajikistan (145).
• The theory of clan politics developed by Dr. Collins entirely deprives the leadership of the republics of independent agency. Rather than being independent agents, each leader is a rational actor who acts as an extension of the clan in negotiations without personal interests (145, 147).
• The author claims that the Central Asian republics are teetering on collapse due to a lack of funds to properly grease the gears of inter-clan alliances, caused by a collapse of Soviet resources and the Russian financial crisis. The author predicts that soon some groups will be cut off from patronage and attempt to seize power for their clan, causing a military coup or civil war (148).
• Open dependence on clan networks for governance still caries a major stigma in Central Asia, and the cronyism of President Akayev's regime has provoke public anger at all levels (148).
• Dr. Collins has an immense aversion to sources and citation, since she does not bother to include any verification of her claims about the 'clannish' nature of Central Asian politics. I would never cite this paper except to prove that someone actually defends a position this ridiculous and Orientalist.