Overview

When Ukraine became independent in 1991, it inherited an underdeveloped set of state institutions with which to manage its transformation to statehood. The task of establishing a legal base for the operation of the new polity was the responsibility of the parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, an institution itself undergoing colossal upheaval. From 1991, it was transformed from a provincial republican Soviet into the national legislature of a sovereign state and from a nominal, symbolic body into a genuine legislative and representative institution. Therefore, the process of building parliament as an institution has been integral to and part of the legislature's engagement in the wider state-building process. This book considers the Rada's development as an essential component of state-building in Ukraine. It examines internal institutional change by focusing on the emergence of party caucuses and transformation of standing committees, and explores the impact of these changes on the legislative process. This is the first in-depth study of Ukraine's parliament and is based on extensive fieldwork inside the Rada. As such, it offers not only an intimate case study of how institutions change in the post-Soviet context, but also moves beyond formal rules to provide a rich picture of how politics really operates in Ukraine. The book will be of interest to scholars of comparative legislative studies, neo-institutionalism and post-communist democratisation. The book is suitable for postgraduate and advanced undergraduate students.

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9780415331951

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Sarah Whitmore is Lecturer in Politics at Oxford Brookes University. Formerly, she worked as an ESRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Russian and East European Studies at the University of Birmingham and as a teacher in Kyiv. Her main research interests concern legislatures and parties in post-Soviet states.

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