Democratization and instability in Ukraine, Georgia, and Belarus

✍ Scribed by Robert Nalbandov

• Publisher: Strategic Studies Institute; U.S. Army War College Press
• Year: 2014
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 206
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This manuscript analyzes the interconnections between the democratic institutionalization of the newly independent states using the examples of Ukraine, Georgia, and Belarus, their political (in)stability, and economic development and prosperity. By introducing the concept of regime mimicry into the field of public administration, the author expands the epistemological frameworks of the democratization school to the phenomenon of political culture. Successes and failures of the democratic institutionalization processes in these countries largely depend on the ways their institutional actors reacted to internal and external disturbances of their domestic political, economic, and cultural environments. While Georgia’s political culture revealed the highest degree of flexibility in accepting the externally proposed institutional frameworks and practices, the bifurcate political culture in Ukraine impeded its democratic institutionalization, while the rigid political culture in Belarus completely stalled the process of institutional transformations.

✦ Table of Contents

DEMOCRATIZATION AND INSTABILITY IN UKRAINE, GEORGIA, AND BELARUS
FOREWORD
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SUMMARY
DEMOCRATIZATION AND INSTABILITY IN UKRAINE, GEORGIA, AND BELARUS
INTRODUCTION
DEMOCRATIZATION/POLITICAL STABILITY/SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Democracy and Political Stability.
Democracy and Economic Development.
DEMOCRATIZATION IN NUMBERS
Democratization.
Economic and Social Development.
Political Stability.
Does Public Opinion Matter?
POLITICAL CULTURE AS AN IDENTITY CONSTRUCT
Political Culture.
THREE HISTORICAL NARRATIVES
Historical Ukraine.
Historical Georgia.
Historical Belarus.
Under the Soviet Union.
Independent Ukraine.
Independent Georgia.
Independent Belarus.
CAN DEMOCRACY LEAD TO POLITICAL STABILITY?
Ukraine.
Georgia.
Belarus.
POLITICAL CULTURE MATTERS
Ukraine.
Georgia.
Belarus.
DEMOCRATIZATION THROUGH “REGIME MIMICRY”
Regime Mimicry in Ukraine.
Regime Mimicry in Georgia.
Regime Mimicry in Belarus.
“INPUTS” VERSUS “OUTPUTS”
Ukraine.
Georgia.
Belarus.
POLICY IMPLICATIONS FOR THE UNITED STATES
Ukraine.
Georgia.
Belarus.
CONCLUSIONS
ENDNOTES
ANNEX 1 - QUESTIONNAIRE

✦ Subjects

political culture; regime; regime mimicry; institutional transformation; institutions; state; political science; democracy; authoritarianism; politics; Georgia; Ukraine; Belarus