Ostapets Yury

Main Page ~ Authors ~ Ostapets Yury
  • № 4, 2019

    • Between Scylla of Nationalization and Charybdis of Regionalization: Features of Development of Party System of Ukraine

      The article analyzes the process of consolidation of the party system of Ukraine on the basis of the results of the 1994—2019 parliamentary elections. Methodologically, the article is based on the theory of nationalization of party systems. To measure the level of nationalization, the author employs indices of nationalization of political parties and party systems developed by M.Jones and S.Mainwaring, as well as the index of territorial coverage proposed by D.Caramani. Identification of typical and deviant electoral regions is carried out by calculating the Euclidean distance.

      The research study conducted by the author demonstrates that the development of the party system of Ukraine witnesses two clear trends — towards nationalization and regionalization. In certain time periods, one trend starts dominating the scene, which depends on the combined influence of a number of factors, such as the features of the post-communist transition, electoral system, form of government, political regime etc.

      The author shows that the models of the electoral behavior of the population of Ukraine, formed during the constituent elections, are inherently regional. The exception is the parliamentary elections of 2014 and 2019, when the nationalization index was quite high. The author explains this change by the fact that Donbass and Crimea — the regions that were crucial for many parties — disappeared from the electoral map of Ukraine, as well as by the relatively low voter turnout in southern and eastern Ukraine. According to him, the increased electoral homogeneity observed during these elections does not guarantee an increase in the level of nationalization of the country’s party system. A high level of volatility coupled with relatively low values of both the nationalization index and the index of an effective number of parties indicates that, despite significant changes in the actor structure of the party space, the heterogeneity (regionality) of party preferences of the Ukrainian citizens remains very important.

      DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2019-95-4-154-174

      Pages: 154-174