Uncertain Partners of Democracy: Political Parties in Ukraine.

Do political parties encourage or impede democratic developments in the nations that departed from the authoritarian rule? This paper demonstrates that Ukrainian parties have both facilitating and hindering effects on democratic transformations in this country. On the one hand, political parties in Ukraine have become exclusive vehicles for gaining power; they promote grater accountability of political actors and contribute to institutionalization of free and fair elections via the institute of electoral observers. On the other hand, the presence and activities of “the parties of power,” a strong charismatic element in all major Ukrainian parties, a sale of seats on the electoral party lists for profit, and the “apparentement” (an ability of parties to file joint lists) make political parties uneasy partners of democracy in Ukraine. The paper will form a framework of a chapter in a multi-authored project “Political Parties and Democracy” scheduled to be published by Praeger in late 2009. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]