Publication

This issue of the CAD focuses on the interplay between informal and formal institutions in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. First, Nona Shahnazarian the deep-seated cultural roots of clientelism in Armenia and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s efforts to eradicate the power of oligarchs in the country. Second, Farid Guliyev looks at how formal institutions in Azerbaijan are largely a façade, although one that is used by the ruling elite to package informal power arrangements and thus maintain autocratic rule. Third, Levan Kakhishvili addresses how formal and informal institutions influence each other in Georgia by examining electoral reform and shift to a parliamentary system.