The Russian-Ukrainian Political Divide

Arbeitspapier

The Orange Revolution unveiled significant political and economic tensions between ethnic Russians and Ukrainians in Ukraine. Whether this divide was caused by purely ethnic differences or by ethnically segregated reform preferences is unknown. Analysis using unique micro data collected prior to the revolution finds that voting preferences for the forces of the forthcoming Orange Revolution were strongly driven by preferences for political and economic reforms, but were also independently significantly affected by ethnicity; namely language and nationality. Russian speakers, as opposed to Ukrainian speakers, were significantly less likely to vote for the Orange Revolution, and nationality had similar effects.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: DIW Discussion Papers ; No. 656

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination ; Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
• Subject: Transformation ; voting preferences ; Ukraine ; ethnicity ; Orange Revolution ; Politische Reform ; Systemtransformation ; Ethnische Gruppe ; Wahlverhalten ; Ukrainer ; Russen ; Ukraine

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Constant, Amelie F. ; Kahanec, Martin ; Zimmermann, Klaus F.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW)
• (where): Berlin
• (when): 2006

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/18549
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:45 AM CET