Dynamic Development? - Leapfrogging Critical Stages of Democracy with Information and Communication Technologies in Azerbaijan

Abstract: Based on a minor field study in Azerbaijan, this thesis aims to explain the relation between advancement of information and communication technologies (ICT) and development of democracy in Azerbaijan. Interviews have been conducted with representatives from the governmental and non-governmental sector in Baku. The semi-structured interviews were categorised into topics on ICT and democracy and analysed qualitatively. Theories on sultanistic semi-authoritarianism in combination with theories on ICT development and the digital divide constitute the foundation for the analysis. The thesis elaborates on the assumption that political initiatives and strategies influence democratic development. Manoeuvring the development of ICT and negotiating the digital divide are central themes in analysing the results. The regime type of Azerbaijan is the independent variable and democratic development is the dependent variable. The conclusion suggests that by leapfrogging, critical stages of development are omitted and hence the result is not consolidated democracy. Instead, this political manoeuvre gives an appearance of genuine democratisation, but turns the development into a weak- or pseudodemocracy.