The illusion of transparency : party finance regulation in Ukraine and its impact on the party system

Abstract

This chapter investigates the impact of party finance regulation on the party system in Ukraine, a latecomer even among the post-communist states that adopted a comprehensive legal framework governing party finance only in 2015. Although the political finance reform 2015 introduced rather stringent rules on private donations, public funding, financial reporting, and oversight, its effect on the integrity of party finance and political party accountability has been uneven. While the transparency of party finance has increased, parties have continued to conceal their actual donors and understate their real expenses, while sanctions for wrongdoings have remained elusive. The chapter's authors also argue that the impact of the new party finance regulation on the level of party fragmentation and party survival has been minimal. The party system in Ukraine consolidated after the 2019 presidential and parliamentary elections, but this happened due to the landslide victory of the presidential candidate and not because of the new party finance rules. Similarly, the new party finance legal regime has had no discernable influence on the party survival rate, which was equally low before and after 2015. The lack of clear impact of the new party finance regulation on the party system can be explained by the short time span since 2015 and the volatile nature of the Ukrainian political system, which was only exacerbated by Russia's unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.