The north-south cleavage and political support in Kyrgyzstan

This contribution applies Easton's concept of political support to an analysis of north and south Kyrgyzstan. Testing alternative theories of geographical distribution of political support, the study seeks to understand the relationship between, on the one hand, political support for the regime and its institutions, and on the other, ethnicity, urbanization and region of residence. It rejects the hypothesis that the north tends to support the opposition and the south supports the president, arguing instead that the north is more pessimistic in general about the state and non-state institutions.