The state as investment market: corruption and the state

Project leader

Johan Engvall, PhD student

Supervisers

Bennich-Björkman, Li, Professor

Cornell, Svante, Docent

Hedin, Astrid, Docent

Project period

2005 - 2011

Project description

What type of state has emerged in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan, and what kind of theoretical framework must we develop to understand its behavior and performance? This study argues that the logic of political and bureaucratic organization follows that of an investment market in which public offices are purchased with the expectation of yielding a favorable return. This theory represents a novel perspective on the post-communist state which has hitherto either been premised on modernization theory or emphasized a robustly personalistic logic of political organization.

Related publications

Johan Engvall, "The State as Investment Market: An Analytical Framework for Interpreting Politics and Bureaucracy in Kyrgyzstan", Uppsala: Department of Government, Uppsala University , 2011. , 271 s.