ASSESSING THE LEVEL OF

DEMOCRACY IN UKRAINE

BY GROUP 1
Institutions
• Different institutions that should be
separate, but are not due to corruption
• Judicial power is most corrupt (37%
of prisoners are pre-trial, usually
people with financial and political
power)
• Lack of strong institution. (pos-soviet
union)
Participation
• No formal barriers to participate,
however voting representation is
hindered by many factors including
discrimination
• State funding favors more
established groups
• Unclear where financing is headed
• Population is dependent on networks
 • The constitution guarantees freedom of speech and
expression, however language laws require news outlets (and
other) to be in Ukrainian
Rights • Violence against human rights defenders (journalists)
• Inefficient gender-based violence laws
Elections
• President is directly
elected for a maximum of
two five-year terms
• 450 members of the
unicameral Supreme
Council (Verkhovna Rada)
elected to five-year terms
through a mixed system
Are elections fair ?
• Russian occupation: voting was impossible in
Crimea and separatist-held parts of Donbas.
• Approximately one million Ukrainian citizens
were unable to vote because for lack of a
registered address
• Organization for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) election monitoring mission
cited irregularities including “widespread vote-
buying, misuse of incumbency, and the practice
of exploiting all possible legislative loopholes”
• Russia’s government has interfered in Ukraine
in myriad ways, but has played little role in the
most recent election.
With the exception of a ban on the Communist Party, there are
no formal barriers to the creation and operation of political
parties.

Ukrainian politics feature dynamic competition among parties.

Opposition groups are represented in the parliament, and their
political activities are generally not impeded by administrative
restrictions or legal harassment

Opposition
Opposition during the war
Recently, due to the war,
opposition parties
sympathizing with Russia have
been banned.
Biggest opposition party ’For
Life Party’ as well as 10 other
pro-russian and left-wing
parties have been banned
Media
• Majority of outlets are state owned, but
politically influenced (oligarchs and other
powers behind it use media to campaign and
promote)
• Areas in which russian is spoken some
journalists are abducted when trying to voice
problems
• Many private outlets are promoted by russian
forces
• If journalists want to engage in media they have
to get one side (Ukraine or Russian Oligarchs)