Abstract

Various types of electoral systems for election of people’s deputies of Ukraine have been characterized in the article: during the 1994 election the majoritarian system of vote by absolute majority had been utilized; in 1998, 2002, 2012, 2014 a mixed system had been utilized with 50 % of the VRU being elected employing the majoritarian system of vote by relative majority and the other 50 % with employment of the proportional system; in 2006 and 2007 a proportional system with closed lists had been utilized. Advantages and disadvantages of each type of electoral system have been categorized. The advantages of the 1994 majoritarian system of vote by absolute majority are: first instance of multi-party nomination and presence in the parliament of the deputies with support from over 50 % of population. The disadvantages are: long time required to form the parliament and lack of political structure thereof. The advantages of utilization of the mixed electoral system are: political parties become permanently active, half of the deputies advocate the interests of specific territories, balanced representation of national and regional elites. Major disadvantages are: considerable reduction of the majority constituencies, risk of electoral fraud on local level, potential difficulties in forming the coalition. Employment of the proportional electoral system in Ukraine was characterized by the following advantages: parliament structured according to the party affiliation and presence of individual sectoral professionals in the party lists, while the substantial disadvantages were: reduction of party-building on the local level and lack of transparency in formation of the lists of the political parties that lead to political corruption. Prospect of codification of the electoral legislation of Ukraine has been estimated. This may be considered a significant progress towards conformity to the European standards. The foundation for the next alteration of the legislation has been laid by the VRU in Bill # 3112-1 of the Electoral Code of Ukraine proposing employment of proportional electoral system with open lists for elections of people’s deputies.

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