Political Party Financing and Elite Renewal in Post-Communist Democracies: A Comparative Study of Moldova and Ukraine

Most international and national public opinion surveys conducted in Central and Eastern European societies show that political parties are among, if not the most distrusted political actors in the region. Plagued by corruption scandals, non-transparent activities, and members without a vertical of integrity, political parties disappoint both ordinary citizens and Western partners. This paper argues that non-reformed party and campaign financing is at the heart of this public distrust, and poses serious issues for political elite renewal. Poor state subsidies, vague and non-enforced regulations, as well as ineffective oversight of party and campaign expenditures put political parties on their knees during the last two decades of transition. Moreover, they now serve the interests of small groups of oligarchs and their loyal public servants. This trap endangers the process of healthy elite renewal, a core requirement for the consolidation of these vulnerable democracies in the region. Moldova and Ukraine, in this context, have the highest prospects for successful democratic consolidation due to their proximity to the European Union but also bear the highest risks due to their geopolitical context and proximity to the Russian Federation. Yet, political parties as drivers of political change in both of these societies are very much distrusted. Moreover, the new political elites do not express interest in genuine democratic reforms. This research project proposes a comparative analysis of Moldova and Ukraine to understand how party and campaign financing impede political elite renewal. It also aims to identify the types of new political elites, to analyse the degree of risks they may pose for the consolidation of democracy in these states, and understand the conditions under which party and campaign financing may be reformed. The hypothesis that this paper puts forward is that political party financing represents the mechanism that allows oligarchic and corrupt elites not interested in consolidating democratic rules and practices to put their grip on power and submerge state institutions into prolonged periods of political stagnation. The study proposes a mixed-method research design that also includes in-depth elite and expert interviews with Moldovan and Ukrainian stakeholders. Elite interviews will be conducted with policy-makers, heads of political parties, representatives of the new elites, and experts in the field, to understand the causal mechanism in a comparative perspective. Studying the renewal of political elites and how the financing of political parties hinders or promotes the process is a critical endeavour for the consolidation of Moldova and Ukraine’s previous democratic achievements and development of theoretical arguments for understanding more generally the causes behind political stagnation in the post-communist space.