Borrowing the dominant theoretical frameworks of studies of voter turnout in the developed world, this paper tests the applicability of these frameworks to a transitional democracy in a Muslim society. Using logistic regression, we estimate an individual’s likelihood of voting in Kyrgyzstan’s 2005 parliamentary and presidential elections.We find that traditional rural networks, rather than networks of voluntary associations, play the central role in the mobilization of voters. In addition, turnout is affected by long-standing cultural cleavages based on religion and ethnicity, and by education, occupation, and trust in government. Our findings suggest that the political behavior of the people of the Kyrgyz Republic is supportive of democracy, in spite of elite-level obstacles to a successful transition.

This article concludes this special issue of Communist and Post-Communist Studies by summarizing the various contributions and noting their commonalties as well as dissimilarities. The primary themes are the various problems in need of solution in Central Asia and the surrounding “neighborhood” (e.g., Afghanistan), including identity-driven conflicts and various ways of handling them. The article reaches out from the academic researchers who have contributed the articles, to policymakers, especially in the U.S., who may be concerned with identifying and solving the problems of Central Asia and its neighborhood, noting the “unintended consequences” that may befall them for what they do or do not do in the region.