Analytical material by Oleksandr Reznik, Doctor of Sociological Sciences: “How Ukrainians perceive democracy and authoritarianism during the large-scale war”

To understand the prospects of the post-war political structure of Ukrainian society it is important to establish how the war and the traumas it has inflicted may affect political consciousness and the country's further democratisation. The war has created a need among the population for a strong and decisive government, which often inclines people towards the advantages of authoritarianism. Authoritarian consciousness reproduces a tendency to value conformity, obedience and the authority of those in power, a readiness to support “strong” leaders even if that means sacrificing some personal freedoms or rights, and a rejection of alternative points of view at odds with critical thinking and openness.

With the beginning of the war of liberation, Ukrainians faced the challenge of an enforced restriction of the full political life they were used to, with its media pluralism and electoral competition. The need for strong leadership produced a “rally round the flag” effect. At the same time, because of the mobilising effect, a number of nationwide surveys recorded a substantial rise in Ukrainians' support for democracy and a democratic order. Since the beginning of the great war and through the dramatic years that followed, survey organisations have sought to test Ukrainians' attitudes towards the form of political governance they would prefer and towards the aspects that bear on authoritarian attitudes. The use of different methods for measuring these attitudes has produced differing results, which call for an explanation.

Read about this in the analytical material by Oleksandr Reznik, Doctor of Sociological Sciences.