Abstract
The first power transition in contemporary Kazakhstan started in 2019 after long-term president Nursultan Nazarbayev stepped aside. Top-down rotations of elites are one of the key methods post-Soviet leaders use to manage patronal states. The staffing policy of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Nazarbayev’s successor, is no exception, although the process turned out to be extended over several years, since Tokayev inherited the elite network his predecessor had built over several decades. This research introduces a new dataset focused on elite rotations in Kazakhstan, which could serve as a blueprint for data collection on developing nations experiencing power transitions. The collected data contains sociodemographic and career characteristics of 136 cases of individuals who held the highest political and administrative offices in Kazakhstan during January 2019–April 2023, detailed up to precise durations spent in office. The results show that the high rate of renewal of Kazakhstan’s administrative elite during Tokayev’s first presidential term was achieved even before the controversial Kazakh unrest of 2022. The transition of power in Kazakhstan was completed between late 2022 and April 2023. The results can be compared to a “colorless revolution,” since the renewal of the administrative elite of Kazakhstan under the leadership of Tokayev exceeded 85%.