The National Facet of Ukraine's Transition
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A fractured identity, a fractured democracy: the national facet of Ukraine’s transition Amy Lewis A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in political studies December 19 2013 Word Count: 35,556 Abstract After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, Ukraine became an independent state. Despite an initial period of optimism regarding the future of the state, after twenty- two years, Ukraine has continued to remain politically unstable. This has culminated in periods of civil unrest with the Orange revolution in 2004 and the ‘EuroMaidan’ protests of 2013. In 1991, political scholars anticipated that the former Soviet republics would embark on a transition towards democracy. However, traditional theoretical frameworks have been proven to be ineffective for analysing the current political and social situation in Ukraine. Drawing on Taras Kuzio’s ‘quadruple transition’ framework, this thesis contents that it is the nation element of transition that prevents the consolidation of democracy in Ukraine. This thesis argues that the current citizens of Ukraine are divided into two political cultures, with distinct perspectives of the raison d’être and the national identity of the Ukrainian state. A historical analysis of the history of Ukraine illustrates that this divide has been entrenched by the various imperial rulers of ethnic Ukrainians. This divide in political culture is then applied as a paradigm in order to understand the discourse of Ukrainian politics since independence. As democratic political systems depend upon their citizens for political legitimacy, the identity of the nation and citizenship laws are vital for creating a united demos. This research illustrates how Ukraine’s legislation regarding the identity of the state did not provide a clear definition of the Ukrainian demos. Ultimately, my research concludes that Ukraine will continue to evade the consolidation of its democracy until it can establish a consensus on the Ukrainian demos. ii Acknowledgments First and foremost, I want to express my gratitude to my supervisor, James Headley. Your patience, perseverance and his insightful opinions have guided this research. Your continued support over the years has been remarkable and I have been honoured to work with you. I would also like to extend my gratitude to the European Union Centres Network for their support. My affiliation with them has been extremely rewarding. They have provided me with support in so many ways: a scholarship for this research, academic support, conference experience where I have meet amazing like-minded people and an exceptional internship opportunity. Needless to say, I owe many friends and family a debt of gratitude for their emotional and academic support through this journey. A special thank you for those who have proofread and provided their thoughts on this work: Jill Lewis, Melanie Lewis, Olive Tabor and Hannah Morgan. Thank you all for your time and efforts. iii Table of Contents List of Tables ..........................................................................................................................vi List of Maps ...........................................................................................................................vii List of Abbreviations .......................................................................................................... viii Note on transliteration ......................................................................................................... ix Map of Ukraine’s borders and oblasti (regions) ................................................................. x Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 1 - Nation and State Building - Theoretical framework .............................................. 12 1.1 Terminology and definitions .................................................................................. 13 1.2 Democratisation theory........................................................................................... 16 1.3 National identity and democracy .......................................................................... 21 1.4 Citizenship, the nation and nationalism ................................................................ 23 1.5 Political culture ........................................................................................................ 29 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 31 2 - The Development of Two Political Cultures in Ukraine....................................... 32 2.1 Historical overview ................................................................................................. 36 2.2 Political culture of west Ukraine ............................................................................ 46 2.3 East Ukraine ............................................................................................................. 53 2.4 How did the USSR affect Ukraine’s political cultures? ........................................ 57 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 64 3 - The national identity of the independent state ...................................................... 65 3.1 - The demographics of the independent Ukrainian state..................................... 68 3.2 – Ukraine’s political cultures and independence.................................................. 69 3.3 – Political cultures and nation building................................................................. 72 3.4 – The identity of independent Ukraine ................................................................. 80 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 90 4 - How has the political culture divide prevented democracy? ................................ 93 4.1 Kravchuk’s presidency............................................................................................ 94 4.2 Kuchma’s presidency .............................................................................................. 95 4.3 The Orange Revolution ......................................................................................... 100 iv 4.4 Yushchenko’s presidency ..................................................................................... 103 4.5 The 2010 presidential elections............................................................................. 110 4.6 Yanukovych’s presidency ..................................................................................... 111 4.7 Retaliation of west Ukraine?................................................................................. 117 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 119 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 121 Bibliography ...................................................................................................................... 129 v List of Tables Table 1 - Results from round two of 1991 Presidential election .................................. 30 Table 2 - Results from round two of 1994 Presidential election .................................. 30 Table 3 - Results from round two of 1999 Presidential election .................................. 30 Table 4 - Results from round two of Voting (December re-election) in 2004 Presidential election............................................................................................ 31 Table 5 - Results of round two 2010 Presidential election............................................ 31 Table 6 - Ukraine Corruption Perceptions Ranking Index .......................................... 98 Table 7 – Svoboda results in west Ukraine from 2010 parliamentary election ......... 107 vi List of Maps Map 1 - Voting in the 2004 presidential election ............................................................ 29 Map 2 - Map of Kievan Rus in the 11th century.............................................................. 33 Map 3 - Map of the three partitions of Poland ................................................................ 38 Map 4 - Results from Ukraine's independence referendum ..........................................74 vii List of Abbreviations CA - Competitive Authoritarian CPSU - Communist Party of the Soviet Union CPU - Communist Party of Ukraine EU - European Union NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation OECD - Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development OR - Orange Revolution OSCE – Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe OUN - Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists PLC – Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth RUKH – Peoples Movement of Ukraine SBU - Security Service of Ukraine UAOC – Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church UDAR – Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform Ukrainian SSR – Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic USSR – Union of Soviet Socialist Republics viii Note on transliteration This thesis has used the Library of Congress transliteration from Russian and Ukrainian to the Latin alphabet. ix Map of Ukraine’s borders and oblasti (regions) x Introduction To look at Ukraine on a map, one is struck by its geopolitical significance. To the west, Ukraine’s