Legislatures and Reforms: A Two-Decade Experience with the Ukrainian Legislature

Abstract

This study addresses the question of what drives legislators to prioritize different areas of reform in post-authoritarian societies that take on a path of democratization. Specifically, this study uses the case of the Ukrainian legislature to analyze legislative preferences toward tackling corruption and economic or institutional reforms. We use eight waves of surveys of Ukrainian legislators spanning two decades to identify what factors are associated with preferences that legislators have toward different reforms. We find that party affiliation, regional ties, and committee membership are important factors in explaining the preferences of Ukrainian legislators.

Keywords:

• Corruption
• legislatures
• political institutions
• reforms
• Ukraine