State-Building in Azerbaijan: The Search for Consolidation

Abstract

The process of political consolidation in Azerbaijan has occurred largely under the auspices of an emerging system best described as "presidential monarchy." This has taken place following years of political turmoil and the eventual, though gradual, re-establishment of such institutions of the state as the parliament, the bureaucracy, and the presidency. Both constitutionally and practically, the presidency has emerged as the real fount of power in Azerbaijani politics, and, in the process, President Heidar Aliyev has made himself indispensable to the political system. Significant accomplishments in the fields of foreign policy and economics, as well as the elimination of actual and potential rivals in the armed forces and elsewhere, have greatly enhanced Aliyev's powers. State-building and political consolidation have reached such levels that the emergent system is likely to outlive the aging president, whose son is already being groomed as the country's next chief executive.