Communist and Post-Communist Studies 41 (2008) 541e561
Abstract
Research on successor parties in the former Soviet Union
has mostly focused on leftist parties and paid little attention
to their interplay with centrist forces which equally have their
roots in the Soviet system. This article examines the
development of both leftist and centrist successor parties
in post-Soviet Ukraine. After consideration of the role of
legacies of the old regime as well as the current legal and
societal framework, the evolution of leftist parties and the
so-called parties of power is explored. The analysis shows
that the leftists were weakened by inteal splits and a
partial inability to modeize. But equally important was the
logic of power preservation in the Leonid Kuchma regime,
which promoted the formalization of the party of power
and crowded out the leftist competitors.
Abstract
Research on successor parties in the former Soviet Union
has mostly focused on leftist parties and paid little attention
to their interplay with centrist forces which equally have their
roots in the Soviet system. This article examines the
development of both leftist and centrist successor parties
in post-Soviet Ukraine. After consideration of the role of
legacies of the old regime as well as the current legal and
societal framework, the evolution of leftist parties and the
so-called parties of power is explored. The analysis shows
that the leftists were weakened by inteal splits and a
partial inability to modeize. But equally important was the
logic of power preservation in the Leonid Kuchma regime,
which promoted the formalization of the party of power
and crowded out the leftist competitors.