CULTURAL PARADIGMS & EUROPEAN DEMOCRATIZATION: How regional power relations have dictated the development of civil society and democratization in Romania and Ukraine

This paper presents a comparative analysis on the historical process of nation-building in Romania and Ukraine, highlighting the role of state and non-state actors and the path taken by both countries that led them to the current day situation. This comparison will explore the role of socio-cultural prerequisites in each country’s transition, specifically civil society and social movements.

{"references":["Aliyev, H. (2017). When Informal Institutions Change. University of Michigan Press. doi:10.3998/mpub.8772004","Andrukhovych, Y. (2020). The Festival Age: Origins of a Phenomenon. IWMpost 126: Democracy in Question. Retrieved from IWMpost.","Bădescu, G., & Uslaner, E. (2004). Civil Society Development and Democratic Values in Romania and Moldova. East European Polity and Societies, 18(2).","Baker, S. (2006). Changing times. The countries in transition in Eastern Europe. Sustainable Development, 186-210.","Barany, Z. D. (2004, January). NATO's Peaceful Advance. Journal of Democracy, 15(1), 63-76. doi:10.1353/jod.2004.0002","Bertelsmann Stiftung. (2009). BTI 2010 - Ukraine Country Report. Bertelsmann Stiftung.","Cibian, S. (2022, December 12). Observatorium 64 – Civil Society in Romania: Mapping the vulnerabilities of a consolidating sector. Retrieved from Observatorium 64 – An insight in Romanian civil society, its challenges and its opportunities: https://www.maecenata.eu/2022/12/12/observatorium-64-civil-society-in-romania-mapping-the- vulnerabilities-of-a-consolidating-sector/","CIVICUS. (2018). 'If citizens are not able to recognise what is going on and mobilise, Romania will very likely join the club of 'illiberal democracies' of the region' . Retrieved from CIVICUS: https://www.civicus.org/index.php/fr/medias-ressources/122-news/interviews/3028-reimagining- democracy-if-citizens-are-not-able-to-recognise-what-is-going-on-and-mobilise-romania-will- very-likely-join-the-club-of-illiberal-democracies-of-the-region","Commonspace. (2014, March 14). Commentary: For the CIS, Ukraine is an existential crisis. Retrieved from Commonspace: https://www.commonspace.eu/commentary/commentary-cis-ukraine- existential-crisis","Cooper, C. M. (2022, November 15). Raves, repairs, and renewal: how young Ukrainians are bringing joy to the rebuilding effort. Retrieved from The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/raves- repairs-and-renewal-how-young-ukrainians-are-bringing-joy-to-the-rebuilding-effort-193842","Cornis-Pope, M., & Neubauer, J. (2004). History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe: Junctures and Disjunctures in the 19th and 20th Centuries (Vol. II). John Benjamins Publishing.","Council of Europe. (2022, November 7). Ukrainian civil society organisations provide vital support to women during war . Retrieved from Council of Europe: https://www.coe.int/en/web/genderequality/-/ukrainian-civil-society-organisations-provide-vital- support-to-women-during-war","EU NEIGHBOURS east. (2022). Annual Survey 2022: Ukraine. EU NEIGHBOURS east. Retrieved from https://euneighbourseast.eu/news/publications/annual-survey-2022-ukraine/","European Court of Auditors. (2021). Reducing grand corruption in Ukraine: several EU initiatives, but still insufficient results. European Court of Auditors.","Genov, N. (2021). Societal transformation: Eastern European experience and conceptualization. International Area Studies Review, Volume 24, 3-17. doi:10.1177/22338659211005589","IRI. (2021). YOUTH OPINION SURVEY. International Republican Institute. Retrieved from https://www.iri.org/resources/recent-national-survey-of-ukrainian-youth-features-young-persons- assessments-of-local-and-social-experiences/","Karácsonyi, D., Kocsis, K., Kovály, K., Molnár, J., & Póti, L. (2014). East–West dichotomy and political conflict in Ukraine – Was Huntington right? Hungarian Geographical Bulletin. doi:10.15201/hungeobull.63.2.1","Kihlström, M. (2022, February 24). Young people are raising their voices for Ukraine's future. Retrieved from imsweden: https://www.imsweden.org/en/young-people-are-raising-their-voices-for- ukraines-future/","King, R. R. (1979, August). Romania's Struggle for an Autonomous Foreign Policy. The World Today, 35(8), 340-348. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40395338","Kubicek, P. (2005). The European Union and democratization in Ukraine. Communist and Post- Communist Studies, 38(2), 269-292. doi:10.1016/j.postcomstud.2005.03.003","Kuzio, T. (2018). Russia–Ukraine Crisis: The Blame Game, Geopolitics and National Identity. Europe- Asia Studies, 462-473. doi:10.1080/09668136.2018.1443643","Michael, C., Gerring, J., Knutsen, C. H., Lindberg, S. I., Teorell, J., Alizada, N., . . . Nina. (2022). V-Dem Ukraine & Romania 1990-2021 Dataset v12. Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project. doi:10.23696/vdemds22","OECD. (2022). Evaluation of the Romanian National Anti-corruption Strategy 2016-2020. Paris: OECD.","Parau, C. (2009). Impaling Dracula: How EU Accession Empowered Civil Society in Romania. West European Politics, 32(1), 119-141. doi:10.1080/01402380802509917","Petrescu, C. (2008). 3. Rethinking National Identity after National-Communism? The case of Romania. Retrieved from The European Network for Contemporary History: https://web.archive.org/web/20140305225844/http://www.eurhistxx.de/spip.php%3Farticle78%2 6lang%3Den.html","Plokhy, S. (2006). The Origins of the Slavic Nations. Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511496837","Shapovalova, N., & Burlyuk, O. (2018). Civil Society in post-Euromaidan Ukraine: From revolution to consolidation. ibidem Press.","Singh, A. (2011, December 8). Romania: Time for Truth on CIA Black Sites. Retrieved from Open Society Justice Initiative: https://www.justiceinitiative.org/voices/romania-time-truth-cia-black- sites","Spendzharova, A., & Vachudova, M. A. (2012). Catching Up? Consolidating Liberal Democracy in. West European Politics, 35(1), 39-58. doi:10.1080/01402382.2012.631312","Surman, J. (2022b). Imperial Science in Central and Eastern Europe. (New) Histories of Science, in and beyond Modern Europe.","12 Surman, J. (2022a). Organizing (Socialist) Science for the Future: From Science Management to Science Studies. Oddities and Orthodoxies in the Philosophy of State Socialism. Cluj-Napoca: UBB Department of Philosophy / Alexandru Dragomir Institute of Philosophy","Szporluk, R. (2001). The Making of Modern Ukraine: The Western Dimension (Vol. 25). Harvard Ukrainian Studies. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41036825.","Szporluk, R. (2002). Why Ukrainians Are Ukrainians. Retrieved from IWM Tr@nzit: https://www.iwm.at/publication/trnsit-online/why-ukrainians-are-ukrainians","Vaida, O. (2021). Romania and its Difficult Road to Democracy. Democratic Consolidation and Europeanization in Romania: A One-Way Journey or a Return Ticket?, 26-61.","von Hagen, M. (1995, Autumn). Does Ukraine Have a History? Slavic Review, 54(3), 658-673. doi:10.2307/2501741","Zayarnyuk, A. (2005). Obtaining History: The Case of Ukrainians in Habsburg Galicia, 1848–1900. In Austrian History Yearbook (pp. 123-124). Cambridge University Press."]}