Investigating Good Governance in the Context of Authoritarian Consolidation: The Case of Belarus (InGAC)

Project idea

There is a puzzle in the developments, changes, and, in general, dynamics of the Belarusian authoritarian regime. While one would expect that the government in a consolidating authoritarian regime would eliminate any principles of good governance (GG), the Belarusian case demonstrates that the situation is more complex. During the liberalization periods (2008–2010, 2015–2020), various areas of Belarusian public administration implemented some GG institutions and principles. However, these moderate innovations were mostly interrupted or reversed after the mass protest of 2020 and the consequent political crisis.

Following Gerschewski's (2013) conceptualization of mechanisms of authoritarian stabilization—legitimation, repression, and co-optation—we explore how the institutes and principles of GG are transforming to ensure the viability of the Belarusian regime. Previous studies of authoritarian consolidation in Belarus focused on economic and social changes or international relationships; however, no studies have examined the mechanisms of authoritarian consolidation in public administration. The research contends that the principles of GG, even if only partially implemented, can be used to secure the survival of an authoritarian regime.

The main goal of the research is to analyze how the Belarusian regime transformed GG during authoritarian consolidation in three areas: public administration, public finance, and environmental governance. We also intend to contribute to the academic and policy debate on the transformation of good governance (GG) principles in consolidating autocracies and how this transformation may affect the public administration system and future democratic reforms.

The project contributes to understanding how HR-based public administration principles are violated during authoritarian consolidation and how to remedy them during democratic transitions. The inclusion of environmental governance in the study promotes environmental sustainability.

The project's activities are distributed within five work packages (WP).
WP1 "Project management".
WP2 "Developing the project methodology", represents a preparation stage for the research.
WP3 "Data collection" .
WP4 "Data analysis and case studies", contains preparing a special issue for an academic journal.
WP5 "Dissemination activities", includes discussing research findings at conferences, disseminating policy briefs, running online media briefings, and hosting workshops.