A ‘Potemkin Village’? Governance Transfer by the CIS

This chapter casts light on the creative and selective use of governance transfer by the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) — a mechanism initially conceived to manage the negative fallout of the collapse of the Soviet Union. While being composed of mostly non-democratic countries, the CIS does prescribe and promote standards for the establishment of governance institutions in its member states. The early engagement of the CIS with governance transfer can be explained by transition regimes seeking to achieve international legitimacy, curb negative externalities, and lock in democratic reforms. Continued commitment in the 2000s, by contrast, constitutes a puzzle. While the democratic performance of CIS member states has stalled or declined over the past decade and the Central Asian countries have moved towards authoritarian forms of governance, the CIS has not dismissed its declaratory engagements with governance transfer. Rather, it has extended its commitments precisely to the field of democracy, through not only standard-setting but also employing monitoring tools.