Post-communist Ukraine / Bohdan Harasymiw.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Harasymiw, Bohdan, author.

Contributor:

American Council of Learned Societies, issuing body.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ukraine--Politics and government--1991-2014.

Ukraine.

Ukraine--History--1991-2014.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiv, 469 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Edmonton : Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press, 2002.

Summary:

Post-Communist Ukraine by Bohdan Harasymiw is one of the most comprehensive and penetrating studies of the political and social realities of independent Ukraine. The masterfully written, multi-faceted analysis presented in this 483-page documents and explains that country's successes and its more frequent failures during its transition from authoritarianism to democracy. Taking a comparative approach, Bohdan Harasymiw breaks free of the usual historical-cultural mode of dealing with Ukrainian politics. Step by step, he examines the primary elements of a modern democratic state and the degree to which these are in place: an agreed-on set of rules of the game in the form of an accepted constitution; a state capable of governing and claiming the loyalty of its people; a parliament representative of the public and able to legislate; a bureaucracy skilled at fashioning and implementing public policies, and not just following orders; a nation of fellow citizens living as a community; political parties channelling the interests of, and responsive to, their followers; elections that reflect the preferences of the voters; and policies ensuring the security and well-being of both state and society. These are analyzed in the light of other countries' experience with these institutions and processes. As a result, a comprehensive portrait of Ukraine's politics, which can be characterized as "post-Communist" but not yet "post-Soviet," emerges.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references( p. 439-460) and index.

Publisher Number:

heb40289 hdl