Can increasing religiosity foster democratization in Ukraine?

Abstract

Stable democracies are characterized by the predominance of certain values and political orientations. Ukraine, as a newly independent post-Soviet state, chose a democratic path toward its development and over the last two decades it experienced massive changes including transformations in the religious sphere. Statistical and survey data suggest that religiosity has significantly increased in Ukraine after independence. It is however not clear, whether religious people differ from the rest of the population with respect to socio-demographic characteristics, what kind of religiosity has increased and whether this growth can foster the democratic development of the society? This report presents the results of an explorative study of the link between the degree of religiosity and political orientations of the Ukrainian population.