Ukraine’s Forced Pluralism
Communicating Tubes and Other Laws
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
In Ukraine, there exists an unstable pluralism. Since 1992, the competing elites have failed either to secure an authoritarian system, or to consolidate democracy. Responsibility for this lies with the dysfunctional institutions, a weak society, and the fragmentation of elites. The last attempt to consolidate democracy, which followed the Orange Revolution, failed because the elites missed their chance to create new structures of power and democratic pro-cedures. But the great service of the “orange revolutionaries” remains the re-establishment of contact between society and the elites – in a way not unlike communicating tubes. The results of the early election provide an opportunity to make another run at institutional reforms and rule of law.
(Osteuropa 10/2007, pp. 15–28)