Popular science material by T. Ya. Liubyva, Candidate of Sociological Sciences: “Distrust of politicians and support for democracy: the Ukrainian paradox”

The website of the Institute of Sociology of the NAS of Ukraine has published a popular science material by T. Ya. Liubyva, Candidate of Sociological Sciences, "Distrust of politicians and support for democracy: the Ukrainian paradox"

Ukrainian society is often described as deeply disillusioned with its political elites. Sociological data bear this out: the level of trust in politicians and political institutions in Ukraine has remained low for decades. Yet an important question arises here: does distrust of particular politicians mean distrust of democracy as such?

The data of the “Ukrainian Society” monitoring survey of the Institute of Sociology of the NAS of Ukraine allow an important conclusion: low trust in political elites does not mean weak support for democratic values. What is at stake is not only elections but other dimensions of democracy as well — freedom of speech, citizens' participation in decision-making and public debate. At the same time it is electoral democracy that is the key mechanism through which other democratic practices gradually take hold.

The full material is here