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Populist orientations in Ukrainian society: origins and characteristics of reproduction

stmm. 2023 (2): 5-27

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/sociology2023.02.005

Full text: http://stmm.in.ua/archive/ukr/2023-2/3.pdf

OLEKSANDR REZNIK, Doctor of Sciences in Sociology, Senior Research Fellow, Head of the Department of Social and Political Processes, Institute of Sociology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (12, Shovkovychna St., Kyiv, 01021)

oleksanderreznik@gmail.com

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5201-8489

Populist orientations refer to a set of political beliefs and values that emphasize the interests of «ordinary people» with a corresponding need to challenge the political establishment. In Ukraine, long social transformations in the post-communist period led to total mistrust and a negative attitude toward state institutions. The post-communist irremovability of the political establishment led to persistent anti-elitist attitudes. As a result of the inconsistency and contradictions of Ukraine's path to democracy, a basic «transitional type» of personality has emerged. It is characterized by psychological ambivalence, that is a double contradictory attitude to the prospects of society's development. The connection of ambivalent consciousness with populist orientations often arises because both phenomena are based on the absence of a stable ideological orientation or a clear political identity. The ambivalent consciousness and unbelief in the pluralist mechanisms of an imperfect democracy have fuelled the population's attachment authoritarian methods in politics, which is a reflection of the hopes for effective governance. However, the existence of polarization in Ukrainian society based on geopolitical orientations and social identities for a long time conditioned citizens to rely on traditional political forces in their electoral behavior. Only after the disappearance of this polarization did populist orientations materialize into the electoral phenomenon of 2019. In the course of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, a radical reassessment of the state and state institutions by the population took place, and therefore the antagonism between the population and the elite became temporarily irrelevant. However, post-war reconstruction carries with it the risks of a revival and growth of populist orientations, as economic difficulties will exacerbate intolerant of social injustice.

Keywords: populism, populist orientations, ambivalent consciousness, authoritarianism, Ukraine

References

  1. Akkerman, A., Mudde, C., Zaslove, A. (2014). How populist are the people? Measuring populist attitudes in voters. Comparative Political Studies, 47 (9), 1324-1353. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414013512600

  2. Appendix. Empirical Monitoring Data of the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine 1994-2004 (2004). [In Ukrainian]. In: V. Vorona, M. Shulga (Eds.), Ukrainian Society 1994-2004: Monitoring of Social Changes (pp. 582-694). Kyiv: Institute of Sociology, NAS of Ukraine.

  3. Appendix. Results of the National Survey «Public Opinion in Ukraine - 2009». Omnibus (2009). [In Ukrainian]. In: V. Vorona, M. Shulga (eds.), Ukrainian Society 1992-2009: Dynamics of Social Changes (pp. 446-548). Kyiv: Institute of Sociology of the NAS of Ukraine.

  4. Ash, K., Shapovalov, M. (2022). Populism for the ambivalent: anti-polarization and support for Ukraine's Sluha Narodu party. Post-Soviet Affairs, 38 (6), 460-478. https://doi.org/10.1080/1060586X.2022.2082823

  5. Carothers, T. (2002). The end of the transition paradigm. Journal of Democracy, 13 (1), 5-21. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2002.0003

  6. de Vreese, C.H., Esser, F., Aalberg, T., Reinemann, C., Stanyer, J. (2018). Populism as an expression of political communication content and style: A new perspective. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 23 (4), 423-438. https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161218790035

  7. Democratic Initiatives Foundation (2016). Reforms in Ukraine: Public Opinion of the Population-2016. July 11, 2016. [In Ukrainian]. Retrieved from: https://dif.org.ua/article/reformi-v-ukraini-gromadska-dumka-naselennya.

  8. Democratic Initiatives Foundation (2018). European Integration in the Dimension of Public Opinion. September 28, 2018. [In Ukrainian]. Retrieved from: https://dif.org.ua/article/evropeyska-integratsiya-u-vimiri-gromadskoi-dumki.

  9. Golovakha, E., Panina, N. (2001). Post-Soviet deinstitutionalization and formation of new social institutions in Ukrainian society. [In Ukrainian]. Sociology: theory, methods, marketing, 4, 5-22.

  10. Golovakha, E.I., Bekeshkina, I.E., Nebozhenko, V.S. (1992). Democratization of Society and Personal Development. From Totalitarianism to Democracy. [In Russian]. Kyiv: Naukova dumka.

  11. Haran, O., Burkovskiy, P. (2019). Ambivalence of public opinion as the base for populism in the 2019 presidential campaign. В: Л.Й. Зубрицька (ред.), Популізм і громадянське суспільство: межі перетину. Тези виступів наукової конференції, 24 березня 2019 р. (сс. 13-14). Київ: Кафедра політології НаУКМА.

  12. Jansen, R.S. (2011). Populist Mobilization: A New Theoretical Approach to Populism. Sociological Theory, 29 (2), 75-96. Kazakov, V. (2018). Ukraine: some preconditions of populism. [In Ukrainian]. Ukrainian society: monitoring of social changes, 5 (19), 37-44. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9558.2011.01388.x

  13. Mudde, C. (2004). The Populist Zeitgeist. Government and Opposition, 39 (4), 542-563. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-7053.2004.00135.x

  14. Parashchevin, M. (2021). Results of national annual monitoring surveys 1992-2021. [In Ukrainian]. Ukrainian Society: Monitoring of Social Changes. 30 years of Independence, 8 (22), 621-714.

  15. Report on the Research Work «Political culture of Ukrainian society: trends and patterns of development» (2005). [In Ukrainian]. Kyiv: Institute of Sociology, NAS of Ukraine.

  16. Reznik, O. (2017). Declarative authoritarianism in the mass consciousness of Ukrainians: Real and fictitious threats to democracy. [In Ukrainian]. Agora, 19/20, 26-31.

  17. Reznik, O. (2021). Determinants of citizens' attitudes towards the activities of the President of Ukraine (1994-2020). [In Ukrainian]. Sociology: theory, methods, marketing, 1, 25-41. https://doi.org/10.15407/sociology2021.01.025

  18. Reznik, O., Kozlovskyi, O. (2021). Perceptions of State Institutions of Ukraine in the Mass Consciousness of the Population. [In Ukrainian]. Ukrainian society: monitoring social changes. 30 years of independence, 8 (22), 259-267.

  19. School for Policy Analysis, NaUKMA (2019). Presentation of the Results of the Survey «The Wave of Populism in Ukraine: Truth or Fiction?». [In Ukrainian]. Retrieved from: https://spa.ukma.edu.ua/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/results_survey_populism.pdf.

  20. School for Policy Analysis, NaUKMA (2020). Presentation of the Results of the Survey «Double Standards: What Ukrainians Think About the Reintegration of the Occupied Territories». [In Ukrainian]. Retrieved from: https://spa.ukma.edu.ua/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/pres-121120-Donbas-Crimea-populism.pdf.

  21. Shcherbak, M. (2006). Socio-class characteristics of political culture in Ukraine: the experience of using the sociological test «Types of Political Culture». [In Ukrainian]. Sociology: theory, methods, marketing, 3, 153-160.

  22. Shulga, M., Potekhin, O., Boyko, N., Parokhonska, O., Shulga, T. (1998). The Ruling Elite of Modern Ukraine: Analytical Report No. 10. [In Ukrainian]. Kyiv: Institute of Sociology,of the NAS of Ukraine.

  23. Spruyt, B., Keppens, G., Van Droogenbroeck, F. (2016). Who supports populism and what attracts people to it? Political Research Quaterly, 69 (2), 335-346. https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912916639138

  24. Stanley, B. (2008). The thin ideology of populism. Journal of Political Ideologies, 13 (1), 95-110. https://doi.org/10.1080/13569310701822289

  25. The Razumkov Center (2022). Citizens' Assessment of the Situation in the Country, Trust in Social Institutions, Political and Ideological Orientations of Ukrainian Citizens in the Conditions of Russian Aggression (September-October 2022). [In Ukrainian]. Retrieved from: https://razumkov.org.ua/napriamky/sotsiologichni-doslidzhennia/otsinka-gromadianamy-sytuatsii-v-kraini-dovira-do-sotsialnykh-instytutiv-politykoideologichni-oriientatsii-gromadian-ukrainy-v-umovakh-rosiiskoi-agresii-veresen-zhovten-2022r.

  26. USAID/ENGAGE (2020). Війна на Донбасі, корупція та бідність є головними проблемами України - соціологічне дослідження. Одержано з: https://rpr.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/USAID_ENGAGE_CEP_Winter2020_UKR-2.pdf

  27. USAID/ENGAGE (2021). Зроби за мене: Українці готові до самоорганізації, але покладають відповідальність за свій добробут на державу. Одержано з: https://engage.org.ua/zroby-za-mene-ukraintsi-hotovi-do-samoorhanizatsii-ale-pokladaiut-vidpovidalnist-za-svij-dobrobut-na-derzhavu/

  28. Van Kessel, S. (2014). The Populist Cat-dog: Applying the Concept of Populism to Contemporary European Party Systems. Journal of Political Ideologies, 19 (1), 99-118. https://doi.org/10.1080/13569317.2013.869457

  29. Verba, S. (2005). Representative democracy and democratic citizens: philosophical and empirical understanding. [In Ukrainian]. In: Democracy: An Anthology (pp. 943-982). Kyiv: Smoloskyp.

  30. Zlobina, O.H. (2017). The people vs the government: Populism in the estimations and expectations of the population. [In Ukrainian]. In: A.A. Melnychenko, P.V. Kutuev, O.O. Onufrienko (Eds.), Capitalism, populism and modernity: materials of the VIII international scientific and practical conference on sociology, Odesa, May 18-19, 2017 (pp. 15-17). Odesa: Helvetica.

Received 25.03.2023

Populist orientations in Ukrainian society: origins and characteristics of reproduction

stmm. 2023 (2): 5-27

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/sociology2023.02.005

Full text: http://stmm.in.ua/archive/ukr/2023-2/3.pdf

OLEKSANDR REZNIK, Doctor of Sciences in Sociology, Senior Research Fellow, Head of the Department of Social and Political Processes, Institute of Sociology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (12, Shovkovychna St., Kyiv, 01021)

oleksanderreznik@gmail.com

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5201-8489

Populist orientations refer to a set of political beliefs and values that emphasize the interests of «ordinary people» with a corresponding need to challenge the political establishment. In Ukraine, long social transformations in the post-communist period led to total mistrust and a negative attitude toward state institutions. The post-communist irremovability of the political establishment led to persistent anti-elitist attitudes. As a result of the inconsistency and contradictions of Ukraine's path to democracy, a basic «transitional type» of personality has emerged. It is characterized by psychological ambivalence, that is a double contradictory attitude to the prospects of society's development. The connection of ambivalent consciousness with populist orientations often arises because both phenomena are based on the absence of a stable ideological orientation or a clear political identity. The ambivalent consciousness and unbelief in the pluralist mechanisms of an imperfect democracy have fuelled the population's attachment authoritarian methods in politics, which is a reflection of the hopes for effective governance. However, the existence of polarization in Ukrainian society based on geopolitical orientations and social identities for a long time conditioned citizens to rely on traditional political forces in their electoral behavior. Only after the disappearance of this polarization did populist orientations materialize into the electoral phenomenon of 2019. In the course of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, a radical reassessment of the state and state institutions by the population took place, and therefore the antagonism between the population and the elite became temporarily irrelevant. However, post-war reconstruction carries with it the risks of a revival and growth of populist orientations, as economic difficulties will exacerbate intolerant of social injustice.

Keywords: populism, populist orientations, ambivalent consciousness, authoritarianism, Ukraine

References

  1. Akkerman, A., Mudde, C., Zaslove, A. (2014). How populist are the people? Measuring populist attitudes in voters. Comparative Political Studies, 47 (9), 1324-1353. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414013512600

  2. Appendix. Empirical Monitoring Data of the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine 1994-2004 (2004). [In Ukrainian]. In: V. Vorona, M. Shulga (Eds.), Ukrainian Society 1994-2004: Monitoring of Social Changes (pp. 582-694). Kyiv: Institute of Sociology, NAS of Ukraine.

  3. Appendix. Results of the National Survey «Public Opinion in Ukraine - 2009». Omnibus (2009). [In Ukrainian]. In: V. Vorona, M. Shulga (eds.), Ukrainian Society 1992-2009: Dynamics of Social Changes (pp. 446-548). Kyiv: Institute of Sociology of the NAS of Ukraine.

  4. Ash, K., Shapovalov, M. (2022). Populism for the ambivalent: anti-polarization and support for Ukraine's Sluha Narodu party. Post-Soviet Affairs, 38 (6), 460-478. https://doi.org/10.1080/1060586X.2022.2082823

  5. Carothers, T. (2002). The end of the transition paradigm. Journal of Democracy, 13 (1), 5-21. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2002.0003

  6. de Vreese, C.H., Esser, F., Aalberg, T., Reinemann, C., Stanyer, J. (2018). Populism as an expression of political communication content and style: A new perspective. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 23 (4), 423-438. https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161218790035

  7. Democratic Initiatives Foundation (2016). Reforms in Ukraine: Public Opinion of the Population-2016. July 11, 2016. [In Ukrainian]. Retrieved from: https://dif.org.ua/article/reformi-v-ukraini-gromadska-dumka-naselennya.

  8. Democratic Initiatives Foundation (2018). European Integration in the Dimension of Public Opinion. September 28, 2018. [In Ukrainian]. Retrieved from: https://dif.org.ua/article/evropeyska-integratsiya-u-vimiri-gromadskoi-dumki.

  9. Golovakha, E., Panina, N. (2001). Post-Soviet deinstitutionalization and formation of new social institutions in Ukrainian society. [In Ukrainian]. Sociology: theory, methods, marketing, 4, 5-22.

  10. Golovakha, E.I., Bekeshkina, I.E., Nebozhenko, V.S. (1992). Democratization of Society and Personal Development. From Totalitarianism to Democracy. [In Russian]. Kyiv: Naukova dumka.

  11. Haran, O., Burkovskiy, P. (2019). Ambivalence of public opinion as the base for populism in the 2019 presidential campaign. В: Л.Й. Зубрицька (ред.), Популізм і громадянське суспільство: межі перетину. Тези виступів наукової конференції, 24 березня 2019 р. (сс. 13-14). Київ: Кафедра політології НаУКМА.

  12. Jansen, R.S. (2011). Populist Mobilization: A New Theoretical Approach to Populism. Sociological Theory, 29 (2), 75-96. Kazakov, V. (2018). Ukraine: some preconditions of populism. [In Ukrainian]. Ukrainian society: monitoring of social changes, 5 (19), 37-44. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9558.2011.01388.x

  13. Mudde, C. (2004). The Populist Zeitgeist. Government and Opposition, 39 (4), 542-563. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-7053.2004.00135.x

  14. Parashchevin, M. (2021). Results of national annual monitoring surveys 1992-2021. [In Ukrainian]. Ukrainian Society: Monitoring of Social Changes. 30 years of Independence, 8 (22), 621-714.

  15. Report on the Research Work «Political culture of Ukrainian society: trends and patterns of development» (2005). [In Ukrainian]. Kyiv: Institute of Sociology, NAS of Ukraine.

  16. Reznik, O. (2017). Declarative authoritarianism in the mass consciousness of Ukrainians: Real and fictitious threats to democracy. [In Ukrainian]. Agora, 19/20, 26-31.

  17. Reznik, O. (2021). Determinants of citizens' attitudes towards the activities of the President of Ukraine (1994-2020). [In Ukrainian]. Sociology: theory, methods, marketing, 1, 25-41. https://doi.org/10.15407/sociology2021.01.025

  18. Reznik, O., Kozlovskyi, O. (2021). Perceptions of State Institutions of Ukraine in the Mass Consciousness of the Population. [In Ukrainian]. Ukrainian society: monitoring social changes. 30 years of independence, 8 (22), 259-267.

  19. School for Policy Analysis, NaUKMA (2019). Presentation of the Results of the Survey «The Wave of Populism in Ukraine: Truth or Fiction?». [In Ukrainian]. Retrieved from: https://spa.ukma.edu.ua/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/results_survey_populism.pdf.

  20. School for Policy Analysis, NaUKMA (2020). Presentation of the Results of the Survey «Double Standards: What Ukrainians Think About the Reintegration of the Occupied Territories». [In Ukrainian]. Retrieved from: https://spa.ukma.edu.ua/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/pres-121120-Donbas-Crimea-populism.pdf.

  21. Shcherbak, M. (2006). Socio-class characteristics of political culture in Ukraine: the experience of using the sociological test «Types of Political Culture». [In Ukrainian]. Sociology: theory, methods, marketing, 3, 153-160.

  22. Shulga, M., Potekhin, O., Boyko, N., Parokhonska, O., Shulga, T. (1998). The Ruling Elite of Modern Ukraine: Analytical Report No. 10. [In Ukrainian]. Kyiv: Institute of Sociology,of the NAS of Ukraine.

  23. Spruyt, B., Keppens, G., Van Droogenbroeck, F. (2016). Who supports populism and what attracts people to it? Political Research Quaterly, 69 (2), 335-346. https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912916639138

  24. Stanley, B. (2008). The thin ideology of populism. Journal of Political Ideologies, 13 (1), 95-110. https://doi.org/10.1080/13569310701822289

  25. The Razumkov Center (2022). Citizens' Assessment of the Situation in the Country, Trust in Social Institutions, Political and Ideological Orientations of Ukrainian Citizens in the Conditions of Russian Aggression (September-October 2022). [In Ukrainian]. Retrieved from: https://razumkov.org.ua/napriamky/sotsiologichni-doslidzhennia/otsinka-gromadianamy-sytuatsii-v-kraini-dovira-do-sotsialnykh-instytutiv-politykoideologichni-oriientatsii-gromadian-ukrainy-v-umovakh-rosiiskoi-agresii-veresen-zhovten-2022r.

  26. USAID/ENGAGE (2020). Війна на Донбасі, корупція та бідність є головними проблемами України - соціологічне дослідження. Одержано з: https://rpr.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/USAID_ENGAGE_CEP_Winter2020_UKR-2.pdf

  27. USAID/ENGAGE (2021). Зроби за мене: Українці готові до самоорганізації, але покладають відповідальність за свій добробут на державу. Одержано з: https://engage.org.ua/zroby-za-mene-ukraintsi-hotovi-do-samoorhanizatsii-ale-pokladaiut-vidpovidalnist-za-svij-dobrobut-na-derzhavu/

  28. Van Kessel, S. (2014). The Populist Cat-dog: Applying the Concept of Populism to Contemporary European Party Systems. Journal of Political Ideologies, 19 (1), 99-118. https://doi.org/10.1080/13569317.2013.869457

  29. Verba, S. (2005). Representative democracy and democratic citizens: philosophical and empirical understanding. [In Ukrainian]. In: Democracy: An Anthology (pp. 943-982). Kyiv: Smoloskyp.

  30. Zlobina, O.H. (2017). The people vs the government: Populism in the estimations and expectations of the population. [In Ukrainian]. In: A.A. Melnychenko, P.V. Kutuev, O.O. Onufrienko (Eds.), Capitalism, populism and modernity: materials of the VIII international scientific and practical conference on sociology, Odesa, May 18-19, 2017 (pp. 15-17). Odesa: Helvetica.

Received 25.03.2023

LATEST PRINTED ISSUE

LATEST FREELY ACCESSIBLE MATERIALS

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