Conclusion

Abstract

Like other former Soviet states, Ukraine underwent modernization without the development of the party-group links characteristic of democracies in most Western countries. At the time of the advent of electoral competition in Ukraine it was unknown the extent to which traditional identities from the pre-Soviet period had survived intact and the extent to which the Leninist experience had structured society in ways that could become politically relevant. The analyses presented in this volume suggest that both the pre-Soviet and Soviet periods left their marks on Ukrainian society, and that the social structure which evolved prior to independence played a large role in shaping political identities and their manifestation in voting patterns in Ukraine’s first competitive electoral contests.