Scenarios of Power of Nursultan Nazarbayev in Contemporary Kazakhstan

Abstract

The thesis aims to apply theory advocated by Richard S. Wortman in his influential study of Romanov dynasty in Imperial Russia to examine such contemporary political structure as Presidency of Nursultan Nazarbayev in Kazakhstan. Main argument of the thesis is that the first President of Kazakhstan during his time in office was successful in implementing and institutionalizing two scenarios of power as: inclusion of all Kazakhstanis into Kazakhstani community regardless their confessional and national affiliations, as well as centrality of ethnic Kazakhs as a national group in the very process of nation-state formation in the post-Soviet republic. The thesis is based on the conceptual framework of “scenarios of power” developed by Richard S. Wortman in his influential study of such authoritarian political institute as Romanov dynasty in Imperial Russia.

Methodologically thesis is based on such concepts as discourse and content analyses of Presidential official speeches which were delivered by Nazarbayev in two languages: Russian and Kazakh. The very aims of thesis are to introduce two scenarios of power of Nazarbayev and to research by analyzing official Presidential speeches how they coexisted and were reconciled during his time of Presidency.