Unconventional forms of protest in Ukraine: mechanism of institutional change or manipulative technology?

Abstract

The article deals with the peculiarities of non-conventional protest in democratization of the Ukrainian political system. The controversial role of political participation has been described as a mechanism of influencing the state authorities, driving force of reforms and, at the same time, a technology of manipulating masses, and a consequence of the struggle for power among the influential political actors. The ability of non-conventional protest to promote the transformation of a hybrid institutional system has also been analyzed.
The tendency of political elites to use mobilization of mass protests in achieving their narrow corporate goals as well as dependence of the success of protests on the will of the political elite representatives have been proved. The institutional approval of the protest practice in the struggle for power has been substantiated. It has been pointed out that there is a tendency for increasing unorganized demonstrations and strengthening the non-conventional component of protests in Ukraine due to distrust in political institutions.
The reasons and consequences of the large-scale non-conventional protests in the history of Ukraine have been considered in the context of their impact on the democratization of the political system. The nature of institutional changes arising from people’s protests has been described as superficial and indeterminate, for the most part contributing to a change of government, and a temporary relief in social tensions. Instead, the institutional system has undergone little change, asserting non-conventional protest as the only possible option of effective political participation.
The main reasons for the periodic recurrence of non-conventional mass protests are their institutionally-caused nature and their perception as an effective and standardized technique of influencing the government.