When Do Political Parties Keep their Election Promises? A Study of Election Pledges in Ukraine

Elections allow voters to hold political parties accountable for their past performance and the promises that they made during election campaigns. But, why are some parties more likely than others to keep their election promises? To what extent do presidential and legislative coalitions affect the ability of parties to fulfil their election pledges? Do election pledges and the rates of their fulfilment vary among political parties in established and new democracies? And what effect does a high level of party fragmentation have on this important connection between parties and their voters? We answer these questions by conducting the first study of election pledges made by political parties in Ukraine. We draw on methods used in the analysis of party pledges in established democracies (Thomson et al, 2017) to analyse the achievements of those parties that entered the Ukrainian parliament between 2007 and 2018. By examining election pledges in Ukraine, we contribute to the study of accountability in unconsolidated democracies, and the effects of different presidential regime types on the legislative responsiveness of parties.