DISCUSING CENTRAL ASIA IN WARSAW
On September 2-4, the international academic conference on “Soviet Central Asia as a Totalitarian Testing Ground” was held in Warsaw at the Witold Pilecki Institute. Mykola Riabchuk, the principal research fellow of the Department of political culture and ideology, took part in the last, concluding session of the conference, that was focused mostly on contemporary issues within the comparative framework. In his paper, titled “Pluralism by Default” and Its Discontents: Hazy Prospects for Democratization in Central Asia”, Dr Riabchuk examined applicability of several theories of democratic transition to the postcommunist states of Central Asia. He argued that Lucan Way’s and Steven Levitsky’s concept of “pluralism by default” may provide a good explanatory key to many developments in the postcommunist states, even though some other factors should be taken into account and sometimes even prioritized – like the level of modernization, lack or abundance of natural resources, international relations and influences, and many more.
With all other factors equal, however, “pluralism by default” provides the most plausible explanation for gradual growth of democracy in historical Europe and elsewhere, facilitated by gradual institutionalization of incidental pluralism and its securing by rule of law. “Pluralism by default” results not from a goodwill of political players and their commitment to the mutually agreed rules, but from their relative weakness and inability to turn on the table and establish the authoritarian dominance. The system is intrinsically unstable, swaying under unconsolidated (quasi)democracy and unconsolidated authoritarianism (as could be best exemplified by Kyrgyzstan, or Yeltsin’s Russia, or Kuchma’s Ukraine), and is prone to authoritarian state capture if the weak democratic players fail to make a viable coalition while the authoritarian players succeed. In practical terms it means that (a) “pluralism by default” should not be confused with democracy; and (b) no democracy can be firmly established until and unless political pluralism is properly institutionalized and embedded in rule of law.