The subjects of civil practice as a basis for democratic transit of Ukraine

In: Sociolohija: teorija, metody, marketynh, Heft 1, S. 5-22

Abstract

It has become an axiom in the scientific literature that any civic engagement contributes to democratic transit and the development of civil society. However, different types of this behavior may have different determinants. These may be actions motivated by civic norms and values, but may also be actions driven by financial encouragement or administrative pressure, especially in transitional democracies. The purpose of the study was to identify the impact of modernization values and orientations on different types of civic activism. The author created an indicator where among the options for the answers was offered a list of socio-political measures that were most relevant at the time of the survey. The substantive side of these activities combined the way and the object of communicating their public aspirations and interests. The most common are discussion forms of civil practices that are individualized. These practices do not require much organizational or collective effort and do not require direct interaction with political or governmental institutions. Practices that combine economic activities also have individualized traits, but they require financial costs or sample consumption, so they are less common. Socio-political practices, civic-local practices and protest-demonstration practices are even less common because they require organizational or collective efforts. Five types of civic practices of the Ukrainian population have been empirically identified and their relationship with democracy and liberal values tested. By means of multiple linear regression method, there was found that only civic practices that combine an ethical consumerism, financial donations and political discussions claim that their subjects could be considered as a social basis of Ukraine's democratic transit. The likelihood of such actions increases with the increase of education levels, decrease of age and living in large settlements. The paradox is that people who profess values of modernization are ready to fund activists, among whom these values are not traced.