STATIC AND DYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF THE KAZAKHSTANI PARTY SYSTEM

Abstract

The purpose of the present article is to analyze the electoral returns of the Kazakhstani elections held in the 1995-2021 period to estimate both the static (such as frag-mentation) and the dynamic properties (fluidity) of the Kazakhstani party system. In addition to estimating the fragmentation and the instability of the party system resulting from parlia-mentary elections, the paper explores the relationship between the static properties of a party system, such as the level of party system fragmentation, and its dynamic properties, such as the level of fluidity of the party system. By doing so, the article reveals that the decrease in the level of fragmentation, measured on the basis of Rae’s index of fractionalization and Laakso and Taagepera’s Effective Number of Parties, was responsible for the growing insta-bility (fluidity) of the Kazakhstani party system.