Authors

Ostap Kushnir¹;  ¹ University of Portsmouth, UK

Discussion

This paper focuses on the nature and functions of informal, civil society-based institutions that participate in governance in Ukraine's regions. To collect empirical data, the paper employs the repertory grid method and interviews 45 civil society leaders from Vinnytsia, Lutsk, Sumy, and Mykolayiv. The paper hypothesizes that civil society leaders are prone to engage in parallel governance if the formal state institutions are malfunctioning or lack legitimacy in their cities. 
The paper attempts to assess the extent to which the threat to the security and/or prosperity of the regional territorial communities, as well as the unpreparedness of formal institutions to address the mentioned threat, encourage the civil society leaders to engage in parallel governance, often through and ad hoc and informal means. The paper also aims to elucidate circumstances under which civil society leaders take the initiative and start working for their communities by bypassing, sabotaging, and/or merging with formal institutions. Finally, the paper aims to outline the functions that the formal and informal institutions are expected to perform in regions in the wartime.
The paper offers a fresh insight into Ukrainian regions through charting political values and institutional expectations of civil society leaders, thus opening the way to operationalise and compare perceptions of good governance, security, legitimacy, and institutional effectiveness.