(De)centralization: changes in horizontal and vertical communication during times of full-scale war
In situations such as war centralization is a part of decision-making as there is a need to allocate resources and take decisions fast. In Ukraine the introduction of martial law restrictions is viewed as a risk to return to the centralized state model as explained by theory of “stubborn institutions” when for a long time after the reform of the institution, the institutions try to return to the previous rules of the game. At KSE research projects the team aimed to look at the changes at the engagement activities that happen within local communities and local activists as well as between local communities and central authorities. While there was a peak in engagement and collaboration between local governments and other stakeholders, there is a return to pre-war moderate engagement level. We also observe some barriers to citizen participation including limited transparency, restricted access to decision-making processes, lack of consultation, etc. With respect to local authorities' communication with central authorities, those communities where military administrations were created face more centralization issues. More difficulties are also communicated by frontline and occupied communities. The findings are based on local activists surveying as well as in-depth interviews of hromada heads conducted in March, November and July-October 2023, respectively.
Meet the Speakers and Chair
Myroslava Savisko is the Head of the Center for Sociological Research, Decentralization and Regional Development at Kyiv School of Economics Institute. Her research interests focus on municipal development and resilience of Ukraine's communities in full scale war. Myrolsava has got Master’s Joint Degree from the University of Glasgow, University of Barcelona and University of Göttingen (specialty – “Global Markets, Local Creativities”).
Valentyn Hatsko is a Data Analyst at the Center for Sociological Research on Decentralization and Regional Development at the KSE Institute. He is a PhD student in sociology at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Among his scientific interests are decentralization reform, hromada resilience, local governance, methodology of social sciences, statistical analysis, and sociology of religion.
Andrii Darkovich is a researcher of the Center for Sociological Research, Decentralization and Regional Development at Kyiv School of Economics Institute. In the center he researched the topics of state-society relations in Ukraine, including local democracy; cooperation between local self-governments and different actors; hromadas resilience; local elections. Andrii has graduated from the Master’s Program “Public Policy and Governance” of the Kyiv School of Economics.
Luke Cooper (@lukecooper100) is an Associate Professorial Research Fellow in International Relations and the director of PeaceRep's Ukraine programme, based at the Conflict and Civicness Research Group in LSE IDEAS, the LSE's in-house foreign policy think tank. He has written extensively on nationalism, authoritarianism and the theory of uneven and combined development, and is the author of Authoritarian Contagion; the Global Threat to Democracy (Bristol University Press, 2021).
Ukraine in global context is an online event series run by PeaceRep’s Ukraine programme
The LSE Conflict and Civicness Research Group (@LSE_CCRG) is part of LSE IDEAS, the foreign policy think tank for the London School of Economics and Political Science. Through sustained engagement with policymakers and opinion-formers, LSE IDEAS provides a forum that informs policy debate and connects academic research with the practice of diplomacy and strategy.
This event is organised as part of our work for the Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform (PeaceRep), an international research project on peace and transition processes in the 21st century led by the University of Edinburgh Law School and funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
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