Understanding Ukrainian Politics:
Power, Politics, and Institutional Design

Paul D'Anieri

2007

Contents

List of Tables, Figure, Appendices, and Maps vii
Acknowledgments ix

  1. Introduction 3
  2. Institutions and Democracy: Questioning the Connections 23
  3. Power and Institutions: Overview of the Argument 48
  4. The Evolution of Ukrainian Politics, 1989-2006 74
  5. Societal Divisions and the Challenge of Liberal Democracy in Ukraine 103
  6. The Constitution and Executive-Legislative Relations 125
  7. The Electoral Law: Cause or Effect of Weak Parties? 148
  8. Parliamentary Rules and Party Development 174
  9. How Power Politics Trumps Institutional Design 192
  10. Ukraine in Comparative Perspective: Electoral Authoritarianism in the Former Soviet Union and Beyond 215
  11. Beyond the Orange Revolution: An Agenda for Further Reform 241

Notes 259
Index 287
About the Author 299

List of Tables, Figure, Appendices, and Maps

Tables

5.1 Regional Distribution of Parties' Support, 2002 Parliamentary Elections 108
5.2 Regional Breakdown of Vote, 1999 Presidential Election, Second Round 109
5.3 Party Support Across Regions: Single-Member Districts, 1998 Parliamentary Election 110
5.4 Support Across Regions (Selected Parties): 1998 Proportional Representation Voting 111
5.5 Frequency with Which Ukrainian Political Parties Vote Together, Sixty-eight Roll-Call Votes, March-May 2000 112
5.6 Left-Right Orientations of Factions in Ukrainian Parliament, 2000 114
5.7 Orientations of Ukrainian Political Parties, 2003-2004 116
5.8 Shifting Alliances in Ukrainian Politics, 2000-2006 118
7.1 Results of the 1994 Parliamentary Elections 155
7.2 Results of the 1998 Parliamentary Elections 161
7.3 Results of the 2002 Parliamentary Elections 162
7.4 Results of the 2006 Parliamentary Elections 164
8.1 Variation in Membership, Factions in Ukrainian Parliament, 1998-2002 178
8.2 Shifting Results of the 2002 Parliamentary Election 185
9.1 Number of People Subject to Direct Voting Pressure from the State 203
10.1 Freedom House 2004 New Democracy Score and Presidential Powers 217

Figure
3.1 Outline of the Argument: Causes of Electoral Authoritarianism in Ukraine 49

Appendices
4.1 Key Figures in Ukrainian Politics, 1991-2005 101
4.2 Political Leaders of Ukraine, 1991-2006 102

Maps
Ukraine: Borders and Administrative Divisions vi

5.1 2004 Presidential Election, Vote by Regions, Second Round Runoff 104