Following the collapse of the Soviet system, clan and faction networking has gained considerable attention in Central Asia. This research project explores the extent to which social group identity, specifically clan identity, shapes people’s political preferences leading them to support authoritarian behavior or particular elements of liberal democracy. After developing an integrative cross-disciplinary framework to link identity to political attitudes, case study analyses in the post-Soviet republics of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan demonstrate that strong clan identity is correlated with a particular set of political preferences. The multi-method research program included interviews and a small social survey in each country in 2005 (N = 753), together with an analysis of recent scholarship on the subject societies. The theoretical framework combines concepts from social identity theory, institutionalism literature, and political science.
Research results show that those with a strong clan identity have a higher tolerance for selected authoritarian behaviors associated with preserving order and stability. At the same time, however, clan members place a high value on citizen freedom of expression. Those with a strong clan identity also prefer power sharing in government rather than strong presidentialism. The cluster of preferences seems to reflect a combination of cultural predisposition and reaction to the particular social and political situation in the country. The results also refine our understanding of how social identity works by showing that clan identity salience in any given context is contingent on the interplay between socialization to group norms, active participation in the clan community and practical benefits received from group membership. Furthermore, as one among several relevant social group identities, clan membership sometimes reinforces and sometimes cross-cuts other attachments such as ethnicity, rural-urban residence, regionalism, religion and rich-poor affiliation. As these societies continue to adapt to far-reaching economic, political and social changes initiated by the collapse of the Soviet Union, future research is likely to reveal continuing changes in clan institutions. However, the spread and durability of clan identity is expected to ensure the importance of clan networks for some time to come.