Kyrgyz democracy? The Tulip Revolution and beyond

This article suggests that commentators have over-emphasized a 'democratic meaning' behind the 'Tulip Revolution', partly because of a certain misrepresentation of 'transition' in post-1990 Kyrgyzstan. The notion of political competition has been particularly important, a consistent feature of Kyrgyz politics that has suggested a liberalizing tendency in Kyrgyzstan. The nature of contestation, however, is at least partially linked to the traditional societal organization of the Kyrgyz ethnic group, and particularly to its multilayered division into sub-ethnic groups that are in a state of stable competitive relationship to each other.