Information on the thesis

The peculiarities of the process of institutionalization of political parties and the party system of Ukraine in the conditions of democratic transit are analyzed. Methodological tools have been developed to study the process of institutionalization of political parties and the party system of Ukraine. Such a model includes: methodology of analysis of party systems in the conditions of democratic transit; the concept of the influence of hybrid political regimes on political parties and party systems; methodology for studying the institutionalization of parties and party systems; development of empirical indices of institutionalization of political parties and party systems.

The process of historical institutionalization of political parties is characterized. The main stages of this process are highlighted. An index of institutionalization of political parties has been developed, which consists of the following indicators: age of a political party; electoral results in parliamentary, presidential and local elections; level of territorial coverage; the level of nationalization of a political party; the method of formation of a political party, the presence / absence of state funding of political parties, information capabilities of parties, the level of depersonalization of parties.

All values ​​of indicators are translated into numerical indicators, which allows to calculate the index of institutionalization of political parties for the Ukrainian case only within certain electoral cycles. Objective conditions do not allow to make a calculation for a longer period of time – a high level of electoral volatility and a change in the actor structure of the party system.

The periodization of the process of legal institutionalization of Ukrainian political parties is proposed: Stage 1: 1991–1996 (June 28, 1996, adoption of the Constitution of Ukraine); Stage 2: 1996–2001 / 2002 (April 2001, adoption of the Law on Political Parties in Ukraine; parliamentary elections were held in March 2002, which changed the structure of electoral competition in Ukraine); Stage 3: 2002–2015 (as a result of the Revolution of Dignity, the actor structure of the party system changed, and in 2015 the law on state funding of parties was adopted); Stage 4: starting in 2015.

Key words: Ukraine, party system of Ukraine, institutionalization of political parties, institutionalization of party system, parliamentary elections, local elections, index of institutionalization of political parties, criteria of institutionalization of political parties and party systems