State-(re)building in Ukraine after the War: Perspectives for Democracy

Uliana Movchan, Jaroslaw and Nadia Mihaychuk Research Fellow in Ukrainian Studies, HURI; Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University
Moderated by Megan K. Duncan Smith, Programs Coordinator, HURI

In Person

Abstract

The war in Ukraine brought up new questions for researchers in the field of international politics and security, as well as in political theory and nationalism studies. The process of nation-building in Ukraine was considered unfinished. Even though many scholars have viewed Ukraine as a divided country, we are now observing a rise of unity among the Ukrainian people and their readiness to defend Ukrainian independence and freedom. Moreover, the war may result in a consolidation of democracy when democracy becomes “the only game in town.” Before the war, the political regime in Ukraine was defined as a neopatrimonial democracy, in which rent-seeking was a key engine of political competition. Power-sharing could become the institutional design to strengthen the political system in Ukraine after the war ends. This includes power-sharing coalition-building, proportional representation, and decentralization reform. Despite the fact that the power-sharing model of democracy has been designed for divided societies, it could prove a promising approach to Ukrainian state-building.

About the Speaker

Uliana Movchan is an Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. She has conducted research at the University of Tübingen (Germany); the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (George Washington University); Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (University of Toronto); Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna; and the University of California, San Diego. She also serves as a project manager and expert on projects funded by international foundations such as the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine and the International Visegrad Fund. Currently, she is a research fellow at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute.

 

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