ABSTRACT
The political instability in Kyrgyzstan has significantly shaped the development of public administration. The political turmoil reflecting the struggle between the incumbent regime and the opposition was accompanied by institutional reforms that aimed to ameliorate this political conflict. Several issues are critical to the reform of public administration: administrative–territorial reforms, decentralization and delineation of function between central and local governments, functional optimization of executive agencies, the oversized civil service, public–private partnerships, and some social aspects of public administration. The collapse of the Soviet regime, Kyrgyzstan had to reform, modernize, or, in some instances, completely revamp its public administration system. It has some notable accomplishments: the tax regime has been simplified, making tax compliance easier for taxpayers and doing business more attractive for entrepreneurs and investors; a legal foundation for a politically neutral, professional civil service, exemplified by the 2004 Civil Service Law, has been created; a relatively liberal political regime has enabled civil society in Kyrgyzstan to thrive.
