Why Ukrainians are Ready to Give Their Lives for Democratic Future of Their Country (History of Ukrainian Democracy)

Type: 
Lecture
Audience: 
Open to the Public
Building: 
Nador u. 9, Monument Building
Room: 
Gellner
Thursday, May 23, 2019 - 1:30pm
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Date: 
Thursday, May 23, 2019 - 1:30pm to 3:10pm

Current situation in Ukraine raises many questions about Ukraine and Ukrainians. Who are the Ukrainians? What are the differences between Ukrainians and Russians? Why Ukrainians are ready to give their lives for democracy? And why they have so strong desire to live in democratic society? The history of Ukraine and Ukrainians gives the answers on these questions. All countries on the territory of current Ukraine had strong democratic approaches in their system of governance. Wide public participation in decision-making was the basis on which Ukrainian mentality and the state formation was built. Democracy was the main form of government on the territory of current Ukraine from many millenniums B.C. Historical analysis is showing that the striving of Ukrainians for freedom and democracy is the basis of their mentality. History shows that as soon as the state began to pressure on Ukrainian freedoms, the mass citizens’ discontents and struggle for democracy and in some cases for independence immediately started. Historical analysis resulted that Ukrainians cannot live in nondemocratic state, without protected human rights and democracy.

Dr. Olena Babinova received her Ph.D. degrees from National Academy of Public Administration under the President of Ukraine. After it she was a post-doctoral researcher at the Academy. The main fields of her research interests are democracy and good governance, local and regional development, public administration reforms, European integration and neighborhood policy. About these topics she has wrote 4 books and more that 60 papers in national and international peer-review journals. She has significant experience as a governmental consultant in Ukraine. As a member of different working groups she has participated in the creation of the drafts of law and conceptions of development in the fields of her main research interests. In Ukraine she worked as an Adviser to the Head of the Foundation for Local Self-Government of Ukraine, Chief Consultant at the National Institute for Strategic Studies of Ukraine. She was a participant of international conferences in Greece, Canada, Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy, Hungary, Czech Republic, Latvia, etc. She had professional internship at the Ryerson University in Canada (Toronto) and Council of Europe, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (Strasbourg). She has been a research fellow at the Pantheon-Sorbonne University Paris 1, GRALE (Paris, France), National School of  Administration (Strasbourg, France), Charles University, Department of Political Science (Prague, Czech Republic), Latvian University, Department of Political Science (Riga, Latvia), etc.