Public administration reforms in Uzbekistan : listening to citizens and public consultative councils

This paper tries to shed a different light onto the (changing) state-society relations in Uzbekistan, using a theoretical framework offered by Joel Migdal (2001) and looking into both the “image” and “practices” of state. Using the example of the public councils (Jamoatchilik kengashlari) and President’s reception houses (Prezident qabulxonalari) in Uzbekistan that have been initiated since 2016, I will look into the cases of reforms, aimed at greater public participation and oversight over state administration, and improving the responsiveness of public bodies to citizen demands. I will analyse if/how new structures based on a new ideology of administrative change and the old culture converged in the transition processes; and how these influence the day-to-day lives of street-level bureaucrats