Understanding Ukrainian Politics: Power, Politics, and Institutional Design: Power, Politics, and Institutional Design

by Paul D'Anieri

Book Overview

Ukraine made headlines around the world during the winter of 2004-05 as the colorful banners of the Orange Revolution unfurled against the snowy backdrop of Kyiv, signaling the bright promise of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0765618125
• ISBN13: 9780765618122
• Release Date: December 2006
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Superb work on Ukraine's political system

Paul D'Anieri has written a long overdue explanation of the complicated world that is Ukrainian politics. Given the recent developments in Ukraine (viz. Ukraine's Orange Revolution), the book is timely as ever and ought to satisfy the most demanding of political junkies. It is cogent, organized and well researched. Its possible weakness - in some readers' eyes - is occasional repetitiveness by the author on topics previously addressed. On the other hand, this allows one to skip a section or even a chapter and still grasp the material fully. To whom may this book appeal? Not for tourists. If you're thinking about visiting the blue and yellow country's Carpathian mountains or its Crimean beaches then you are best to opt for Ukraine (Lonely Planet Travel Guides). Otherwise, you may like this book if you are: a graduate student (or advanced undergrad), a journalist, a business person, a scholar, or simply someone interested in understanding how political systems work. Because it explains its analytical methods, the book will help its readers understand not only the political processes in Ukraine, but in other political systems. What's inside the book? -Chapter 1 is the "Introduction." This is the chapter that will help you get started actually understanding Ukrainian politics. It will serve as a primer and should not be skipped. -Chapter 2 deals with "Institutions and Democracy." It is a type of literature review so if you are not familiar with the debates in the field then read it. If you are familiar then you may still find it helpful as a review section. Your choice. (This is also the chapter where D'Anieri explains why "institutional design" and "power politics" help understand Ukraine's political system). -Chapter 3 "Power and Institutions" reviews one of the book's main theses: that the problem is "the concentration of de facto political power in the executive branch," a legacy from the Soviet times (pg. 73). The chapter is one of the more technical and may be dense for some readers. However, this is the bone upon which the meat will be thrown in the rest of the book. (The section on machine politics is rather interesting for its comparison with the U.S. experience). -Chapter 4 titled "Evolution of Ukrainian Politics 1989-2006" is a mini-history of what happened, when, how and why. I knew the majority of this material, but it was still very helpful in situating the overall argument. -Chapter 5 deals with "Societal Divisions." The news reports like to dramatize conflicts, such as the East-West divide. D'Anieri takes a hard empirical look at it, and finds that parties in the Ukrainian parliament are driven primarily by left-right rather than by linguistic or ethnic issues (pg. 114). The larger point is that majority coalitions are possible despite political cleavages. -Chapter 6 addresses "institutional issues." The gist - institutions are crucial because they shape incentives of political actors. Also, don't