The Descriptive Representation of Russian Minorities: Evidence from Ukraine

• In Event: Ukraine and Ethnic Relations

Abstract

One of the primary markers of political integration of minority groups in democratic and semi-democratic regimes is their descriptive representation in national legislatures. Post-Soviet Ukraine presents an interesting and important case, particularly since Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine beginning in 2014, which was based partially on claims that Ukraine’s ethnic Russian minority has experienced discrimination, exclusion, and persecution.

Ukraine provides an interesting case study for the examination of minority representation in general. The country has a sizable Russian minority that is geographically concentrated in certain regions as well as smaller politically salient ethnic groups such as Tatars, Poles, and Jews. At various times, certain political parties were identified as more amenable to the interests of ethnic Russians, further politicizing ethnic divisions. We use a unique dataset that codes the ethnicity and sex of individual legislators for each Ukrainian legislative election from 1994 to 2019 to examine how electoral rules, demographic conditions, and party affiliation have affected the descriptive representation of ethnic minorities in Ukraine.

In this paper, we have two primary goals. First, we compare the level of Russian minority representation in Ukraine with that of other post-Soviet countries with substantial Russian minority populations such as Lithuania and Latvia. Second, examine whether increased international conflict between Ukraine and Russia affected the election of ethnic Russians and the degree to which party affiliation and demographic conditions interacted with intensifying ethnic conflict to impact minority representation.

Authors

• Allison C. White, Colorado State University

• Regina R Goodnow, University of Wisconsin, La Crosse

• Robert G. Moser, University of Texas at Austin

• Mikhail Leonidovich Rybalko, Irkutsk State University