informality; Javakheti; ethnic minority

The article focuses on Javakheti, Georgia's historical region with a predominantly ethnic Armenian population, in which informal political institutions play a crucial role. The article is largely based on field research which was conducted in three stages in 2011, 2015, and 2017. At first, I introduce the concept of informal politics. Contrary to the popular perception of informality as something negative and undesirable, I argue that informality is neither negative, nor positive, and that it is rather some of the byproducts of informal institutions, such as corruption, clientelism, blackmailing etc., which can be perceived as negative. Then, on the examples of five exogenous shocks, I demonstrate how the formal and informal in Javakheti coexists in a form of dynamic equilibrium. Finally I argue that the prevalence of informal politics in Javakheti should be seen as the second best strategy of Javakheti's political elite as well as of the Tbilisi-based government, whose demands on the formal institutional arrangement in Javakheti were incompatible.