What is a democracy?

A democracy must contain the following elements: civil liberties (freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and so forth); an independent judicial system; public officials held accountable to the law; a vital, free press; and a political system which seeks legitimacy from the public via free, competitive elections. While newly independent Ukraine fully or partially meets some of the above criteria, it fails altogether to pass several key tests of democracy. Whether Ukraine will realize its democratic potential or follow certain disturbing trends towards authoritarianism remains unclear.

On the surface, Ukraine's drive for independence and democratization followed the conditions laid out by Samuel Huntington in The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century. The collapse of the Soviet regime was induced by a decline in the ruling elite's legitimacy. This decline resulted in large measure from higher levels of education, urbanization of the populace, greater awareness of life outside the USSR, efforts of established democracies to stimulate change, and rapid democratization in neighboring countries of Central Europe.

Likewise, the vulnerabilities of a newborn democracy – also enumerated by Huntington – exist in Ukraine as well. Democratic values remain weak among the elite and the population at large. An economic crisis has devastated the country and polarized society. Ukraine also faces pressure from unfriendly external powers. According to Huntington, the success of democracy depends on economic development and growth and a political leadership committed to making democracy a reality.