Understanding Public Sector Reforms in Kazakhstan: Context and Challenges
摘要
This chapter critically examines the public sector reforms enacted during President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s leadership (since 2019). Following the power transition from Nursultan Nazarbayev, the first President of Kazakhstan, and the political upheavals of “Bloody January” 2022, President Tokayev introduced large-scale political reforms, the “Listening State” concept, and the “Just Kazakhstan” agenda, aimed at reducing the concentration of power in the executive, fostering state-society dialogue, and promoting social justice. This chapter explores these reforms within Kazakhstan’s broader political and socio-economic context, tracing both continuities and ruptures with the Nazarbayev era. It highlights key changes relating to decentralization, local politics, and consultation processes, while underscoring persistent challenges such as grand corruption, entrenched patronage networks, and elite resistance to reforms. To provide a systematic evaluation, this volume applies the OECD Public Governance Review (PGR) framework, offering a multi-dimensional academic scrutiny of reforms in the political, economic, and social sectors.