Інститут демократичних виборів в Україні: особливості та тенденції трансформації

Abstract

Розглядається проблема дотримання демократичних принципів під час виборів в Україні. Аналізуються особливості та тенденції трансформації Індексу демократичних виборів у нашій державі. The article dwells on the issue of compliance with democratic principles during elections in Ukraine. The author suggests the methodology for calculation of the level of election process democracy based on such an indicator as the Index of Democratic Elections. It is founded on democratic principles of elections, full compliance with which testifies the highest possible level of election process democracy. Each democratic principle includes a certain number of indicators which, in their turn, include constituents. They are assigned a particular sum of maximum possible scores depending on their influence on the level of elections democracy. The Index of Democratic Elections is a relative value calculated as correlation between democracy of a specific election campaign and the ideal model of democratic elections. The Index of Democratic Elections comprises the analysis of both the level of electoral legislation democracy and the study of electoral practice concerning compliance with democratic principles. In the first case, the regulatory acts of Ukraine which have been regulating conduction of elections in our country since 1990 served as sources for the research. In the second case, reports of theOSCE/ODIHR Election ObservationMission were taken as empirical material for the analysis. Upon applying of the suggested methodology in determining the level of elections democracy in independent Ukraine, the following results have been obtained: since the declaration of independence, the Index of Democratic Elections declined, and the pick of this process was the Presidential elections in 2004; short-term increase of this process was observed after the Orange Revolution; when V. Yanukovych took over the power in 2010, the Index of Democratic Elections tended to decrease; after the Revolution of Dignity, significant increase of the level of elections democracy is observed, and this provides a chance for democratization of social order in Ukraine at large.