ELECTORAL REFORMS AND CONSOLIDATION OF THE PARTY SYSTEM IN UKRAINE

What are the reasons for change of electoral system in a country in transition? Who are the actors involved and how they do that? What consequences it has for parliament and the party system? This paper attempts to provide answers to these questions in the case of Ukraine. In that country, in less than two decades three types of electoral systems have been implemented: majority system in 1994, mixed system in 1998, 2002 and 2012, and proportional system in 2006 and 2007. Such frequent changes occurred due to elite-manipulation which aimed at satisfying self-interests of political elites. Both parliamentary and non-parliamentary elites have been involved in that process, and the most important actors among them have been oligarchs and the President. When the Ukrainian oligarchs as veto-players began to intensively participate in parties' activities, parties began to play a more important role than they did before. We conclude that the type of electoral system and oligarchic influence on parties and elections impacted the way how the party system has been shaped. We show that this system has been instrumentalised to achieve particular objectives of the dominant segments of political and business elites in Ukraine.