About the Author

Andreas Umland

Andreas Umland, Dr. phil., Ph. D., is DAAD Associate Professor of Political Science at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, editor of the ibidem Press book series “Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society,” as well as member of the Valdai International Discussion Club, German-Ukrainian Forum, Kyiv Dialogue and Experts Council of the Ukrainian Parliament’s Committee on European Integration. His comments have appeared in, among other outlets, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Harvard International Review, World Affairs Journal, National Interest, Moscow Times, Kyiv Post, Le Monde diplomatique, Die Zeit, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung and Die Welt.

Ukraine’s Current Constitutional Debate

The current public controversy about what division of power Ukraine should have in the future is overdue. The various political crises of the past fifteen years have amply shown that the Ukrainian Constitution, whether in its 1996 or 2004 versions, needs revision. However, the arguments made in Ukrainian mass media today concerning constitutional reform mostly ignore what political science has to say about the appropriateness of various forms of presidential rule for post-communist transition states.

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