The Seventh Survey of the Members of the Ukrainian Parliament

This was the seventh survey conducted by the project since 1998, with the first survey taking place in 1998 at the close of the second convocation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The surveys track the attitudes and opinions of Ukrainian MPs on various issues concerning the democratic development of Ukraine, political and democratic institutionalization of the Ukrainian parliament, and its relations with the executive branch, civil society organizations, and international technical assistance organizations. The survey was conducted during the term of the 6th convocation of the Verkhovna Rada, which was elected in the fall of 2007. The survey methodology involved administering a questionnaire to Ukrainian MPs, with the results providing a picture of the state of affairs within the Verkhovna Rada during the 6th convocation. The survey data are a powerful tool for discerning trends and tracking steps forward and backward in the development of the Ukrainian parliament. The results of the survey indicate that the Verkhovna Rada has made significant strides in becoming a stronger, more robust legislative institution, with greater capacity to execute its representative, legislative, and oversight functions. Despite the political turmoil and long periods of parliamentary dysfunction that resulted from the standoff between the opposition factions and the pro-Government coalition in 2005-2008, the Ukrainian legislature proved to be an effective institution able to mitigate conflict between power elites. The survey also highlights the changes in the Constitution made in 2004 and fully enacted in May 2006, which seriously affected the way the parliament carried out its three major functions: representative, legislative, and oversight over the executive. While the strengthening of the parties in parliament and introduction of a near imperative MP mandate weakened the links between MPs and their constituencies, legislative-executive relations were somewhat improved generally, and significantly improved in some areas. The survey results are organized into several clusters, including deputy attitudes about the most important policy issues facing Ukraine, the primary roles of the deputy in addressing these policy problems, and priorities for their parliamentary activities. The report also provides a picture of the capacity of the Ukrainian parliament, its cooperation with other Government institutions, and the dynamics of political developments in the Verkhovna Rada. Some key trends from the surveys include a shift in focus from fundamental economic issues and the structure of the political system to substantive policy issues, such as the reform of the legal/judicial system, the introduction of new anti-corruption mechanisms, and the empowerment of local self-government. This trend was reversed during the economic crisis and political turmoil in 2008-2009, but has re-emerged as a top priority in the most recent survey, with the reform of the political and governance systems returning to the back burner.