This article will focus on trade unions in Russia and Ukraine, the two largest post-communist countries, where economic conditions have also been particularly dire and elites' commitment to democracy has been questionable at best. It has three modest aims. First, it will attempt to 'unpack' the notion of civil society and highlight why trade unions do not fit neatly into civil society as the term is often used. Second, it aims to briefly document and explain organised labour's marginalisation in these states. One important argument is that organised labour is weak in these states not only because of its past, subservient role, but also because economic reform in these states has hampered trade union development. Finally, what union weakness means in terms of democratisation will be discussed. A key notion guiding this article is that an examination of trade unions forces us to broaden our understanding of democracy to include how a distorted political economy belies claims about democracy based solely on the holding of competitive elections.
