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Discusses the results for the 2006 parliamentary elections in Ukraine, highlighting the candidates and their campaigns. [Copyright 2006 Elsevier Ltd.]

Multiple aspects of Ukraine's 2004 presidential election are studied including the electoral campaigns, the controversy surrounding the initial electoral outcome, & the results of the officially sanctioned outcome between candidates Viktor Yanukovych & Viktor Yushchenko. After providing overviews of Yanukovych's & Yushchenko's respective careers within the Ukrainian political system, the principal issues of the presidential campaign are reviewed, eg, preventing Ukrainian military forces from becoming involved in Iraq & whether Yushchenko's loyalties were to the Ukrainian people or Western companies & nations. Factors that discouraged the international community & the Ukrainian Supreme Court from sanctioning the initial second-round run-off election, in which Yanukovych received 49.5% of the popular vote, are identified; explanations for Yushchenko's majority victory in the second contest are subsequently provided, eg, increasing public support for Yushchenko's political platform in the Central & Northern regions of Ukraine. The election outcomes implications for Ukrainian politics are pondered, & the principal challenges facing the Yushchenko administration are contemplated. Tables, References. J. W. Parker

In this article, we revisit the question of the gender divide in Russian politics. The starting point of our analysis is the observed gender differences in voting in the 1995 parliamentary elections. The article is devoted to an evaluation of the reasons for the observed differences in party support. We document the fact that women, on average, believe more strongly than men that women should play an equal role in running the state. In addition, women are significantly more likely than men to reject the notion that women would stay home if given the choice. These attitudes are significantly related to party choice in the 1995 parliamentary election in Russia. The probability of voting for the political party titled Women of Russia is not only related to a strict demographic gender division, but also to the level of adherence to a "women's equality" identity dimension. 7 Tables, 2 Appendixes, 58 References. Adapted from the source document.

Building on the economic voting literature, the article hypothesizes that support for democratic reformers in a post-Soviet society can be expected to vary with economic conditions and also with where the country is in the transition process. Using a series of nine repeated surveys covering the time span from 1991 to 1999 in the Russian Federation, it tests both a reward-punishment hypothesis and a "price of reform" hypothesis. Among the best predictors of positive evaluations of President Yeltsin are time in the transition process (early in the process rather than late) and positive outlooks about the economic prospects for one's own family. Yet, political evaluation measures are found to have equal importance in understanding the dynamics of democratic support. In evaluating support for the opposition, the article finds that support for the Communist Party is directly related to negative economic evaluations, to experience with severe hardship, and to low monthly income.