ABSTRACT
Political decentralisation aims to provide people with the opportunity to elect local decision-makers because it is expected that elected local representatives will respond better to the needs of their constituents. However, in practice, locally elected politicians may not be better than the local civil servants at responding to local needs. The purpose of this chapter is to cultivate a better understanding of the impact that political decentralisation has on local economic development in Kazakhstan. It focuses on the role of elected politicians who represent their local population, and it critically reviews the claim that the elected officials of local governments in Kazakhstan—if given local autonomy—can make decisions that would benefit the local population. The author analyses how elected politicians and bureaucrats in Almaty, Nur-Sultan, Aktobe, and Shymkent cities handle urban transport management. The current electoral practice at local levels in Kazakhstan does not allow for honest, genuine elections. Elected politicians do not act independently from the bureaucrats and these politicians put their personal interests before public concerns. In conclusion, the author demonstrates that the empowerment of locally elected politicians did not help improve urban development, resulting in a decrease in public trust in local government.
