In 1990 Mongolia embarked on a far-reaching series of political and economic
reforms following the demise of the former Soviet bloc, of which it had been
a part for some 70 years. In common with post-communist transitions
elsewhere, these reforms aimed to bring about a separation of the political,
executive and judicial pillars of the state, and to increase the role of markets
rather than the state in allocating resources within society. This reform agenda
remains far from complete, however, and is far less tidy in practice than the
notion of ‘transition’ implies [see also Nelson et al., 1997]. Contemporary
Mongolia is characterised by a mosaic of formal and informal institutions,
including the results of new experiments in policy-making seen alongside the
remnants of old arrangements and patterns of behaviour.