Forschungsstelle Osteuropa Bremen Arbeitspapiere und Materialien No. 107 – March 2010 The Formal Political System in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. A Background Study By Andreas Heinrich Forschungsstelle Osteuropa an der Universität Bremen Klagenfurter Straße 3, 28359 Bremen, Germany phone +49 421 218-69601, fax +49 421 218-69607 http://www.forschungsstelle.uni-bremen.de Arbeitspapiere und Materialien – Forschungsstelle Osteuropa, Bremen No. 107: Andreas Heinrich The Formal Political System in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. A Background Study March 2010 ISSN: 1616-7384 About the author: Andreas Heinrich is a researcher at the Research Centre for East European Studies at the University of Bremen. This working paper has been produced within the research project ‘The Energy Sector and the Political Stability of Regimes in the Caspian Area: A Comparison of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan’, which is being conducted by the Research Centre for East European Studies at the University of Bremen from April 2009 until April 2011 with financial support from the Volkswagen Foundation. Language editing: Hilary Abuhove Style editing: Judith Janiszewski Layout: Matthias Neumann Cover based on a work of art by Nicholas Bodde Opinions expressed in publications of the Research Centre for East European Studies are solely those of the authors. This publication may not be reprinted or otherwise reproduced—entirely or in part—without prior consent of the Research Centre for East European Studies or without giving credit to author and source. © 2010 by Forschungsstelle Osteuropa, Bremen Forschungsstelle Osteuropa Publikationsreferat Klagenfurter Str. 3 28359 Bremen – Germany phone: +49 421 218-69601 fax: +49 421 218-69607 e-mail: [email protected] internet: http://www.forschungsstelle.uni-bremen.de Contents List of Tables ................................................................................................................................5 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................7 2. Azerbaijan ...................................................................................................................................10 2.1. Constitutional Development of Azerbaijan ............................................................................10 2.2. The President ................................................................................................................................11 2.3. Executive Branch: Government and Administration .......................................................... 12 2.4. Parliament .................................................................................................................................... 13 2.5. Political Party System ................................................................................................................ 13 2.6. Electoral System ......................................................................................................................... 15 2.7. Elite Recruitment ........................................................................................................................18 2.8. Civil Society .................................................................................................................................19 2.9. Mass Media .................................................................................................................................. 20 2.10. Political Culture and Political Participation ...........................................................................21 2.11. Legal System and Constitutional Court ................................................................................ 22 2.12. Regional and Local Policy......................................................................................................... 23 2.13. Appendix ..................................................................................................................................... 25 3. Kazakhstan .................................................................................................................................27 3.1. Constitutional Development of Kazakhstan ......................................................................... 27 3.2. The President ............................................................................................................................... 28 3.3. Executive Branch: Government and Administration .......................................................... 29 3.4. Parliament .................................................................................................................................... 30 3.5. Political Party System ................................................................................................................ 32 3.6. Electoral System ......................................................................................................................... 35 3.7. Elite Recruitment ....................................................................................................................... 36 3.8. Civil Society ................................................................................................................................ 38 3.9. Mass Media .................................................................................................................................. 39 3.10. Political Culture and Political Participation .......................................................................... 40 3.11. Legal System and Constitutional Court .................................................................................41 3.12. Regional and Local Policy......................................................................................................... 42 3.13. Appendix ...................................................................................................................................... 43 4. Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan in Political System-Related Country Rankings..................45 4.1. A Brief Introduction to Political Country Rankings ............................................................ 45 4.2. Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI) ............................................................................ 46 4.3. Freedom House: Freedom in the World ................................................................................. 48 4.4. Freedom House: Freedom of the Press ................................................................................... 49 4.5. Freedom House: Nations in Transit ........................................................................................ 49 4.6. Global Integrity Report ............................................................................................................. 53 4.7. Press Freedom Index .................................................................................................................. 54 4.8. Corruption Perception Index ................................................................................................... 55 4.9. Worldwide Governance Indicators ......................................................................................... 56 Bibliography ...............................................................................................................................59 Recent English-Language Publications of the Research Centre for East European Studies ..............................................................67 English-Language Newsletters of the Research Centre for East European Studies ..............................................................68 NB: Links to other pages in this documents or URLs that are ‘clickable’ in the electronic edition of this working paper are identified by this sans-serif font. List of Tables 1.1: Literature Overview ..................................................................................................................................9 2.1: Constitutional Changes in Azerbaijan ................................................................................................11 2.2: Office Holder in Azerbaijan, 1996–2009 ........................................................................................... 25 2.3: Presidential Election Results ................................................................................................................ 25 2.4: Parliamentary Election Results ............................................................................................................ 26 3.1: Constitutional Changes in Kazakhstan .............................................................................................. 28 3.2: Office Holder in Kazakhstan, 1996–2009 .......................................................................................... 43 3.3: Presidential Election Results ................................................................................................................ 44 3.4: Parliamentary Election Results (Majilis) ........................................................................................... 44 4.1: BTI Status Index, 2003–2010 (Index Values and Rank).................................................................. 47 4.2: BTI Management Index, 2003–2008 (Index Values and Rank) .................................................... 47 4.3: Freedom in the World: Political Rights 2002–2009........................................................................