Varierande Vägar till Frihet - Hur staten och civilsamhället interagerar för demokrati i Vitryssland, Moldavien och Ukraina
State capacityCivil societyDemocracyBelarusMoldovaUkrainePolitical and administrative sciencesStatsvetenskapFörvaltningskunskapLaw and Political Science
The three post-communist states - Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine ? have gone different ways in terms of freedom and democracy since the breakdown of the Soviet Union 1991. During these years, the state and the civil society have been fundamental actors in the struggle against, and even for, authoritarianism.A strong state with great capacity in Belarus has undermined the chances for the civil society to fulfil its task as a watchdog of the state and link between the citizens and the government.Failed authoritarianism in Moldova has led to a situation where both the state and the civil society are weak. The major problem is lack of organization and cohesion; both the state and the civil society have often been divided by ethnical differences and are therefore not strong enough to promote democracy.In Ukraine, the dominance of a strong state ended in 2004 when the Orange Revolution took place, sometimes called a ?peak of democracy? where popular mobilization and protests succeeded in it's opposition against the state. Though, a complete ?wave of democracy? never really came.There have been positive elements too though, and hopefully the interaction between the state and the civil society will develop further to support democratization.