The politics of police reform: society against the state in post-Soviet countries

What does it take to reform a post-Soviet police force? Across the region, the countries inherited remarkably similar police forces with identical structures, chains of command, and politicized relationships with the political elite. Centralized in control but decentralized in their reach, the police remain one of the least reformed post-communist institutions. As a powerful state organ, the Soviet-style militarized police have resisted change despite democratic transformations in the overall political context, including rounds of competitive elections and growing civil society. This text explores the conditions in which a meaningful transformation of the police is likely to succeed and when it will fail. Based on the analysis of five post-Soviet countries (Ukraine, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan) that have officially embarked on police reform efforts, the author examines various pathways to transforming how the state relates to society through policing

What does it take to reform a post-Soviet police force? This book explores the conditions in which a meaningful transformation of the police is likely to succeed and when it will fail. Based on the analysis of five post-Soviet countries that have officially embarked on police reform efforts, Erica Marat examines various pathways to transforming how the state relates to society through policing.

Acknowledgements -- A mirror reflection of society : police in post-Soviet countries -- Transformative violence and mobilization -- Components of police reform : transformative violence and pre-existing dissent infrastructure in urban areas -- Georgia : refurbishment vs. reform -- Kyrgyzstan : political space opens, then closes -- Ukraine's reformists and their rivals -- Rural violence and reassertion of state control in Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan -- Rural violence and expansion of policing in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan -- Comparative perspective : transformative violence around the world -- Conclusions : transforming post-Soviet police -- Notes -- Index