One of Europe's old nations steeped in history, Ukraine is today an undisputed independent state. It is a democracy and has transformed into a market economy with predominant private ownership. Ukraine's postcommunist transition has been one of the most protracted and socially costly, but it has taken the country to a desirable destination. Åslund's vivid account of Ukraine's journey begins with a brief background, where he discusses the implications of Ukraine's history, the awakening of society because of Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms, the early democratization, and the impact of the ill-fated Soviet economic reforms. He then turns to the reign of President Leonid Kravchuk from 1991 to 1994, the only salient achievement of which was nation-building, while the economy collapsed in the midst of hyperinflation. The first two years of Leonid Kuchma's presidency, from 1994 to 1996, were characterized by substantial achievements, notably financial stabilization and mass privatization. The period 1996–99 was a miserable period of policy stagnation, rent seeking, and continued economic decline. In 2000 hope returned to Ukraine. Viktor Yushchenko became prime minister and launched vigorous reforms to cleanse the economy from corruption, and economic growth returned. The ensuing period, 2001–04, amounted to a competitive oligarchy. It was quite pluralist, although repression increased. Economic growth was high. The year 2004 witnessed the most joyful period in Ukraine, the Orange Revolution, which represented Ukraine's democratic breakthrough, with Yushchenko as its hero. The postrevolution period, however, has been characterized by great domestic political instability; a renewed, explicit Russian threat to Ukraine's sovereignty; and a severe financial crisis. The answers to these challenges lie in how soon the European Union fully recognizes Ukraine's long-expressed identity as a European state, how swiftly Ukraine improves its malfunctioning constitutional order, and how promptly it addresses corruption.

Ukraine made headlines around the world during the winter of 2004-05 as the colorful banners of the Orange Revolution unfurled against the snowy backdrop of Kyiv, signaling the bright promise of democratic rebirth. But is that what is really happening in Ukraine? In the early post-Soviet period, Ukraine appeared to be firmly on the path to democracy. The peaceful transfer of power from Leonid Kravchuk to Leonid Kuchma in the election of 1994, followed by the adoption of a western-style democratic constitution in 1996, seemed to complete the picture. But the Kuchma presidency was soon clouded by dark rumors of corruption and even political murder, and by 2004 the country was in full-blown political crisis. A three-stage presidential contest was ultimately won by Viktor Yushchenko, who took office in 2005 and appointed Yulia Tymoshenko as premier, but the turmoil was far from over. The new government quickly faltered and splintered. This introduction to Ukrainian politics looks beyond these dramatic events and compelling personalities to identify the actual play of power in Ukraine and the operation of its political system. The author seeks to explain how it is that, after each new beginning, power politics has trumped democratic institution-building in Ukraine, as in so many other post-Soviet states. What is really at work here, and how can Ukraine break the cycle of hope and disillusionment?

Ukraine under Kuchma is the first survey of recent developments in post-soviet Ukraine. The book covers in an in-depth manner the entire range of key developments since the 1994 parliamentary and presidential elections, the first elections held in post-soviet Ukraine. The new era ushered in by these elections led to Ukraine's launch of radical economic and political reforms which aim to domestically dismantle soviet power within Ukraine, stabilise relations with the separatist Crimean region and normalise relations with Russia and the West.

Scientific Study from the year 2007 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: Russia, grade: 1,0, Vilnius University (Vilnius University), 31 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: The aim of this paper is to find out the major changes in interests of the Ukrainian society and how they determined party preferences. Therefore it will not only analyse parliamentary elections but also presidential elections. The presidential - parliamentary system of Ukraine (until 2005), with crucial powers of the president is determining presidential elections as important, even if parties itself play a less important role than candidates. Change of interests also can be visible by voting for one or another candidate at least for major cleavages in the society. Presidential elections also normally work for the consolidation of party competition (Harasymiw 2002). The first part of this work will lay the theoretical ground for the analyses of voter preferences in Ukraine. It will deal with a generalization of interest building theory and a more closer view on transforming post-communist societies. Furthermore it will present two concepts which are important in explaining the interconnection between society and political interests. The first concept deals with class inequalities as base for class specific interest and voting behaviour. But this concept cannot give enough explanation for the case of Ukraine, due to its special political development in general and its different historical experience during Soviet times. Therefore I will present a second concept; the concept of cleavages. It is more genereal in describing the connections between specific interest and voter preferences and therefore more useful than the former concept. In the second part of this paper I will analyse the parliamentary and presidential elections of Ukraine until 2006. Therefore I will describe important surroundings, present the results and analyse the major cleavages or in

Scientific Study from the year 2007 in the subject Politics - Region: Russia, grade: 1,0, Vilnius University (Vilnius University), language: English, abstract: The aim of this paper is to find out the major changes in interests of the Ukrainian society and how they determined party preferences. Therefore it will not only analyse parliamentary elections but also presidential elections. The presidential – parliamentary system of Ukraine (until 2005), with crucial powers of the president is determining presidential elections as important, even if parties itself play a less important role than candidates. Change of interests also can be visible by voting for one or another candidate at least for major cleavages in the society. Presidential elections also normally work for the consolidation of party competition (Harasymiw 2002). The first part of this work will lay the theoretical ground for the analyses of voter preferences in Ukraine. It will deal with a generalization of interest building theory and a more closer view on transforming post-communist societies. Furthermore it will present two concepts which are important in explaining the interconnection between society and political interests. The first concept deals with class inequalities as base for class specific interest and voting behaviour. But this concept cannot give enough explanation for the case of Ukraine, due to its special political development in general and its different historical experience during Soviet times. Therefore I will present a second concept; the concept of cleavages. It is more genereal in describing the connections between specific interest and voter preferences and therefore more useful than the former concept. In the second part of this paper I will analyse the parliamentary and presidential elections of Ukraine until 2006. Therefore I will describe important surroundings, present the results and analyse the major cleavages or interest groups. [....]