American Interest: Revolutions without benefits
Lit candles in the shape of the coat of arms of Ukraine are set up in Independence Square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Nov. 21, 2014 (AP)
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Ukrainians are once again becoming disillusioned with how the country’s institutions are failing to live up to their expectations
On Sunday, November 15, officials at polling stations yawned while waiting for people to cast ballots for the mayor of Kyiv. The turnout in the latest local elections across the country marked a record low, indicating a widespread disappointment in politicians and politics in Ukraine. (Vitaly Klitschko, the incumbent mayor, won, with a plurality of less than 40 percent of the vote.) That disappointment is reflected in a joke making the rounds in the capital: Sociologists polled Ukrainians, asking which politicians they would like to spit at? An overwhelming majority marked the option, “Any one.”
In a recent real-life poll, two-thirds of Ukrainians said the country is headed in the wrong direction. The number is the same as before the latest “Maidan” revolution, which took place in 2013, and it’s a good indication of society’s frustration with its institutions and leaders. But this is natural. Ukrainians as individuals are free to read, think, discuss and hence rise to high levels of political awareness and sophistication. But functional institutions and competent, experienced elites cannot form quite so quickly. They are not easy to conjure up anywhere; they take time to develop.
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