From socialism to capitalism with communist characteristics: the building of a post-socialist developmental state in Central Asia

Many post-communist countries continue to search for their preferred genus of capitalism. During this process the Post-Socialist Developmental State (PSDS) became the dominant model of institutional arrangements and state policy in post-socialist East Asia. Upon embarking on a systemic transformation from socialism to capitalism, states such as China and Vietnam chose not to build a liberal model based on a free market and democracy. Instead, they chose to replicate the success stories of East Asia based on the historic concept of the developmental state. In their quest to build a post-communist capitalism, former Soviet republics of Central Asia, namely, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have also tried, to a varying degree, to instal their own version of PSDS, as they have maintained an authoritarian political system and despite the initial efforts at accelerating economic transformation, have maintained a gradual and incremental pace of reforms. In compliance with PSDS provisions, they have relied on state intervention and industrial policies and after post-socialist recession characteristic of many countries in transition, have finally managed to achieve an impressive developmental dynamics, almost commensurate with that of East Asian post-socialist developmental states.