Ryabushkina Valentina

№ 4, 2008

• CONTEMPORARY QUASI-DEMOCRACIES

  The author undertakes to give basis to a new concept that allows to identify and describe regimes that claim to be democratic but still fall behind the liberal democracy model. Based on L.Diamond’s list of basic characteristics of the liberal democracy, V.Ryabushkina defines quasi-democracy as a type of political organization that in this or that way distorts the substance of liberal democracy while preserving its form (general elections, separation of powers, political parties, etc.). Analytical potential of the concept of “quasi-democracy” is tested on the example of Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Russia. Comparative analysis of the three post-Soviet nations helps the author to outline a number of reasons why this phenomenon has emerged.

  DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2008-51-4-105-121