Post-Soviet Azerbaijan: Transition to Sultanistic Semiauthoritarianism? An Attempt at Conceptualization

Abstract

The hybrid regimes comprise the majority of contemporary political constellations. However, the hybrid regime paradigm does not account for the diversity among these regimes. Drawing on the case of post-Soviet Azerbaijan, the present study establishes a new conceptual framework - the sultanistic semiauthoritarian model that amalgamates two theories: semiauthoritarianism and sultanism. This article argues that sultanistic semiauthoritarianism can be considered as one of the most serviceable conceptual frameworks to deal with the case of post-Soviet Azerbaijan's political regime.