End to informality? Examining the impact of institutional reforms on informal institutions in post-Euromaidan Ukraine

Abstract

What happens to informal institutions in the process of institutional reforms? This article aims to examine one particular aspect of the complex interaction between institutional reforms and informality; the impact of reforms on informal political institutions. The success of Ukraine’s Euromaidan in overthrowing the autocratic government of Viktor Yanukovich in 2014 has ushered a wind of change into the post-Soviet political landscape, for decades dominated by authoritarian and semi-authoritarian forms of governance and the reliance on informal institutions engraved in political traditions. This study is among the first to question as to whether an ambitious reform agenda currently being implemented by the Ukraine’s post-Euromaidan government has had a notable impact on the deeply rooted informal relations in the political sphere. Drawing its empirical insights from a series of in-depth interviews conducted in Kiev in 2015, this study shows that while informal relations have become increasingly vulnerable to formalization efforts and, as a result, various informal institutions in present-day Ukrainian politics have lost their functions and influence, other informal institutions are not only being preserved by the political elites, but also are being employed to promote the reform processes.

Keywords:

• Informal institutions
• institutional reform
• corruption
• Ukraine
• Euromaidan

Notes

1. Author’s interview with a civil society member, Kiev, July 10, 2015.

2. Author’s interview with an NGO head, Kiev, July 14, 2015.

3. Author’s interview with a civil society member, Kiev, July 21, 2015.

4. Author’s interview with a public official, Kiev, July 12, 2015.

5. For example: Mustafa Nayyem, Serhiy Leshtchenko and Svitlana Zalishchyk.

6. Author’s interview with a political analyst, Kiev, July 7, 2015.

7. Author’s interview with an MP, Kiev, July 24, 2015.

8. The Ukrainian system of vytkat functions similarly to the Russian otkat. See more at (in Russian): http://expert.ru/russian_reporter/2012/08/kak-ustroena-rossiya/.

9. Author’s interview with an executive official, Kiev, July 14, 2015.

10. Ibid.

11. Author’s interview with a group of civil activists, Kiev, July 28, 2015.

12. Author’s interview with a head of an NGO, Kiev, August 10, 2015.

13. The former Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, invited by President Poroshenko to head the Odessa administration, is one of the most well-known examples.

14. As of the time of this fieldwork in summer 2015.

15. Author’s interview with a public official, Kiev, July 07, 2015.

16. Author’s interview with a public official of reform ministry, Kiev, July 23, 2015.

17. Author’s interview with a manager of state bank, Kiev, July 16, 2015.

18. Author’s interview with an energy sector official, Kiev, July 22, 2015.

19. Author’s interview with an official of reform ministry, Kiev, August 02, 2015.

20. Author’s interview with a political analyst at a watchdog, Kiev, July 28, 2015.

21. Author’s interview with a member of civil society, Kiev, July 05, 2015.

22. Author’s interview with an NGO manager, Kiev, August 06, 2015.