Policy vs. Practice: Anti-Corruption Efforts in Kazakhstan

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Margaret Hanson, assistant professor of political science, Arizona State University

Both President Tokayev and his predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev, have for years publicly emphasized the need to reduce corruption and introduced multiple initiatives to crack down on officials’ malfeasance. Yet levels of corruption in Kazakhstan remain stubbornly high. In personalist dictatorships like Kazakhstan, corruption is integral to governance, which means that the dictator cannot eliminate it without also unraveling his control over the entire system. Why, then, do we see high-profile anti-corruption rhetoric and policies in Kazakhstan?