Applying a Civic Culture Framework to Local Policy-Making in Ukraine and Latvia (Research Brief)

What is the status of democracy at the local level in the former Soviet republics of Ukraine and Latvia? How does local democracy stack up in these two countries in comparison to cities in Norway? Is there a difference if the policy focus is economic development or eldercare services? This research applies the concept of local civic culture to cities in Ukraine and Latvia as a theoretical framework for understanding local government policy-making and ultimately democracy at the local level. The model of civic culture has been used to explain policy outcomes in cities in North America, and recently in Norway, and is applied to localities that are still in the process of developing patterns of democratic local governance, fiscal decentralization, and institutional capacity including a vibrant civil society. The research focuses on local economic development and eldercare policies. Intensive elite interviews were conducted with local elected and administrative officials, and representatives of local citizen advisory groups, NGOs, media, and businesses in two cities in each country. The cities were Ivano-Frankivsk and Nikolayev Ukraine, and Valmiera and Jurmula Latvia. The focus of this research and the issues of “democratic governance and market economy assistance activities” are tightly intertwined. The research explores issues that have been central to US assistance to former-Soviet states since the early 1990s. Ultimately, the Norway-Latvia-Ukraine comparison in particular should yield important insights into democratic transition at the local government level.

Raymond A. Rosenfeld, of Eastern Michigan University, was a 2011-2012 Short-Term Travel Grants (STG) fellow.