Understandings of democracy and “good citizenship” in Ukraine: utopia for the people, participation in politics not required

Szostek, J. and Orlova, D. (2022) Understandings of democracy and “good citizenship” in Ukraine: utopia for the people, participation in politics not required. Post-Soviet Affairs, 38(6), pp. 479-496. (doi: 10.1080/1060586X.2022.2084280)

Abstract

This article investigates and compares how people in diverse peripheral regions of Ukraine understood democracy, their role as citizens in a democracy, and the meaning of “good citizenship” in 2021, the year before Russia’s full-scale invasion. We conduct thematic analysis of focus group discussions to demonstrate gaps and inconsistencies in the understandings of democracy articulated by our participants. We find that a utopian understanding of democracy is common, in which authorities are expected to “listen to the people” and keep them satisfied, but the need for government to manage conflicting interests is not recognized. Understandings of good citizenship are inclusive and pro-social, but mostly detached from institutional politics. We observe similarity across regions in how democracy is understood in the abstract. However, the meaning ascribed to democracy often varied when discussion moved from the abstract to particular country examples – a finding relevant beyond the Ukrainian case, for survey-based research on public understandings of democracy more generally.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was supported by the British Academy under Grant IC4/100133. Joanna Szostek also benefited from a funded affiliation with the Estonian Military Academy while working on this research.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Szostek, Dr Joanna
• Authors: Szostek, J., and Orlova, D.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Politics
• Journal Name: Post-Soviet Affairs
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• ISSN: 1060-586X
• ISSN (Online): 1938-2855
• Published Online: 03 June 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 The Author(s).
• First Published: First published in Post-Soviet Affairs 38(6): 479-496
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons Licence

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
307952		Peripheral audiences and state security: A study of risks and benefits associated with media use among border populations in Ukraine	Joanna Szostek	British Academy (BRITACAD)	IC4/100133	S&PS - Politics