Theoretical and comparative perspectives on populism in Ukraine and Europe

ABSTRACT

This paper analyses the under-researched topic of populism in Ukraine from a theoretical and comparative perspective to populism in Europe. Populism in Ukraine does not have four characteristics commonly found in Europe which include hostility to immigration, high levels of support for ethnic nationalists, Islamophobia and a view of the EU as a threat to national sovereignty. Ukrainian populism is similar to its European variants in six areas. These include anti-globalisation, radical rhetoric against corruption and the ‘establishment,’ authoritarian and undemocratic tendencies, weak support for reforms, deception and chameleon-like nature of populist politicians and penchant to capitalise on crises.

KEYWORDS:

• Populism
• European Union (EU)
• Soviet nostalgia
• Yulia Tymoshenko and Batkivshchina
• Viktor Yanukovych and Party of Regions
• Ukrainian nationalism

Notes

1 http://www.cvu.org.ua/nodes/view/type:news/slug:try-holovy-fraktsii-propustyly-polovynu-holosuvan-u-travni-kvu

2 http://razumkov.org.ua/uploads/journal/eng/NSD157-158_2015_eng.pdf

3 Razumkov Center Newsletter, no.51 (2018). http://razumkov.org.ua/uploads/newsletter/Newsletter_51.pdf

4 https://www.tymoshenko.ua/en/news-en/we-must-learn-to-make-decisions-in-favor-of-god-and-people/

5 http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/radan_gs09/ns_golos?g_id=18885

6 https://www.tymoshenko.ua/en/news-en/ukraine-needs-an-independent-anti-corruption-court-not-deception-by-the-president/

7 https://www.tymoshenko.ua/news/natsionalna-asambleya-samovryadnosti-maye-staty-natsionalnym-arbitrom-i-sovistyu/

8 Public petitions, which Tymoshenko pointed as examples of ‘direct democracy’ in the US, already exist in Ukraine supported by the US government through USAID. http://radaprogram.org/content/pro-programu

9 https://lb.ua/blog/taras_kuzio/399869_anatoliy_gritsenko_plutaie.html

10 https://voxukraine.org/en/the-ranking-of-ukrainian-parliament-en/

11 https://voxukraine.org/en/the-ranking-of-ukrainian-parliament-en/

12 https://voxukraine.org/en/the-ranking-of-ukrainian-parliament-en/

13 http://www.cms-lawnow.com/ealerts/2018/08/ukraine-european-court-of-human-rights-rules-against-ukrainian-agro-land-sale-moratorium

14 http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/opinion/2017/10/02/ukraine-can-boost-annual-output-us15-billion-with-land-reform

15 https://dif.org.ua/article/viborchi-reytingi-traven-2018408346

16 https://voxukraine.org/en/the-ranking-of-ukrainian-parliament-en/