Title of Research

Power-Sharing as a Remedy for Ukraine's Neopatrimonial and Conflict State

Abstract

This research investigates power-sharing and its alternatives for Ukraine's divided society, where patron-client networks are embedded in a semi-presidential system. I will examine various elements of power-sharing and its possible application to the Ukrainian political system in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war in the Donbas region. The main purpose of power-sharing is accommodation and compromise. The power-sharing theory has some limits, especially in polarized societies. It is important to implement power-sharing into the political system in Ukraine in order to bring clarity to decision-making processes. Power-sharing could help overcome Ukraine's institutional crises, and, in comparison with other methods of conflict resolution, gives Ukrainian political elites incentives to adhere to established rules following Russian intervention. In addition, elites should already be habituated to the rules of power-sharing, because the logic is similar to the logic of distribution of spoils in patron-client networks.

Biography

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 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.