Moving towards Democracy: Applying Democratic and Civil Norms in the Post-Soviet Space
Introduction by Dr. Bobo Lo
Notions of democracy, the rule of law and civil society have acquired an almost totemic status in today’s world. Seduced by their allure, political leaders of all persuasions are keen to portray themselves as the incarnation of humanistic ideals. Subscribing to the modern-day holy trinity of democracy, the market and civil society has become the prize ticket to domestic legitimacy and membership of the community of ‘civilized nations’.
The general rush to keep up with political fashion has, however, highlighted critical contradictions. Democratic standards are more often honoured in the form than the substance. Vast discrepancies have emerged between theory and practice, which in some countries bears only the most superficial resemblance to the values of the 18th century Enlightenment, never mind of modern democracy.
Part of the problem is that democracy means very different things to different people. One person’s democracy is another’s authoritarianism or chaos. Far from the end of the Cold War bringing about consensus on a ‘universal’ set of governing principles, ideational differences are starker than ever. And nowhere more so than in the countries which, until 1991, formed the Soviet Union.
The essays in this volume focus on the enormous challenges in applying democratic and civil norms to five former republics of the Soviet Union – Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Moldova. They do not pretend to offer a comprehensive analysis of the practical challenges in implementing democratic and civil norms in the post-Soviet space. Rather, the intention is to offer a series of ‘snapshots’, a prism through which the reader can gain some insight into the complexities of developing democracy in this vitally important region.
The authors, all fellows of the 2005 John Smith Fellowship Programme, proceed from the core assumption that such norms cannot be mechanically transplanted without proper regard for local context and culture. Political pluralism, good governance, human and legal rights – these are all essential components of any society that aspires to be at once democratic and civil. But ultimately each country must follow its own path, learning from developed democracies such as the UK, yet retaining a flexible and discriminating mindset.
In two highly contrasting essays, Shahla Ismayilova and Khalid Rajabov address the question of sharply conflicting perceptions of democracy in Azerbaijan. The focus here is on the tension between imported notions of Western democracy and traditional Azerbaijani attitudes and mores. Ismayilova pays particular attention to the political, technical and financial obstacles to developing a genuine civil society, while noting the self-serving attitude of Western economic interests. Although the road to democracy will not be easy, she believes that the advanced political consciousness of ordinary citizens offers the way to eventual progress.
Rajabov is less optimistic. He argues that the real political contest is not between the government and the ‘democratic’ opposition, but between competing traditions-based networks that share broadly the same world-view. Much of this conflict is tacit, and the protagonists themselves have little idea of what they mean by democracy, other than that it should reflect traditional values and customs. For Rajabov, the key to progress is enhanced cultural dialogue and understanding between Azerbaijan and the West.
Mykhaylo Nakhod and Stela Mocan take the discussion of democracy to a more concrete level. Nakhod analyses the specific challenges of introducing proportional representation in Ukraine. The weakness of Ukrainian political parties has limited their ability to influence the policy agenda and ensure fair representation in parliament. Effective reform of the electoral system requires not just political will from the government, but also wide support from society.
Mocan stresses the pivotal importance of political parties in building democracy in Moldova. This is very much a work in progress, where success until now has been constrained by the lack of proper democratic institutions and processes. Moldovan political parties are ineffectual organizations, largely unresponsive and unaccountable to the electorate. This makes them poor building blocks for developing democracy in an environment still strongly shaped by the Soviet past.
The rule of law is a concept used and abused by politicians, democratic and otherwise. Yet few within the elite and society understand what it involves. In their essays, Gayane Hovakimyan and Oleg Kuzbit examine the task of developing effective and humane law enforcement agencies. They note that such bodies are frequently seen as repressive instruments of the state, part of the problem rather than the solution. Hovakimyan calls for a new framework of relationships with society in order to enhance public trust and transparency in the system. Only then can democratic principles take root.
Kuzbit turns the spotlight on the appalling situation with human trafficking in Russia. His emphasis, however, is less on the crimes of the traffickers than on the performance of the agencies responsible for tackling the problem. Accustomed to giving priority to punitive action over human rights, local and federal police have compounded the suffering of the victims and undermined the progress of investigations. The good news is that there is growing awareness of this problem, and the police are enlisting Russian NGOs in establishing best practices for pursuing cases of human trafficking.
The issue of pension reform is exercising policy-makers across the former Soviet space. Arkadi Khachatryan’s essay centres on the Armenian government’s attempts to bring an antiquated system of social support in line with European standards. At stake is nothing less than the social protection of the most vulnerable groups of society – pensioners, the disabled and the unemployed. Although much still needs to be done, there now exists the political will to make a real difference.
Civilian oversight of the military is one of the hallmarks of a developed democracy. Unfortunately, this goal remains elusive even in relatively advanced polities such as Ukraine. Alexander Demyanets observes that democratic oversight of security institutions remains weak by Euro-Atlantic standards. The President’s excessive control of security and defence issues, a culture of secrecy, the lack of civilian expertise, and the low priority of defence and security issues have meant that security institutions lack democratic legitimacy and national security policy is largely immune from outside scrutiny. The Orange Revolution has not had the revolutionizing impact many had hoped for, and any change will be incremental at best.
The final two essays by Eugeniu Burdelnii and Victoria Mukha address the question of how Moldova and Ukraine, respectively, are responding to the challenges of integration and globalization. Burdelnii notes the failure to achieve a ‘Europeanization of minds’ in the 1990s. Instead, growing corruption and the undermining of national identity discredited democracy in many of the newly independent states, opening the way to authoritarianism. His vision is for a stable and prosperous Europe in which the old divisions between East and West have broken down and where there are no ‘winners’ and ‘losers’, just Europeans. In similar spirit, Mukha writes of two globalizations – the prevailing model of Western-dominated globalization and a less well-known form centred in a regional civilization revolving around Russia. She calls for Ukraine to take up its historic role as the conduit of Western ideas to the East, although not at the expense of its integration into Europe and the global community.