A Society of Onlookers

Oleksandr DERHACHOV, political scientist:

“From the viewpoint of the standards of a democratic law governed state and the European tradition, for which we are allegedly striving, it is obvious that non-public methods of solving problems prevail in Ukraine. Social interests have not been structured or presented on a political level in contrast to business interests which determine the nature of politics and the quality of decisions made. There also is another aspect explaining the degree of the current regime’s ineffectualness. Until recently, the latter was weighed down with internal struggle, and always displayed contradictions between those who were forced one way or another to make deals and interact. This system has currently stalled and raised doubts about this regime’s ability to serve even the ruling elite’s interests. The existing regime is unable to do so for the simple reason that it lacks a normal, above all international, space for normal existence. It is the international space that keeps it from self-isolation. For if the regime only dealt with its own electorate and were completely independent in its decision making, it would be far more integral, consistent, and much more authoritarian. But in reality today’s regime, while remaining authoritarian in essence, is stuck because some information is leaking from outside and the regime is forced to meet one way or another standards which nobody can defend inside the country but which are constantly the topic of discussion, say, in Strasbourg or Brussels. So we see today two overlapping trains of logic: the existence of the regime in the narrow sense of the word and the existence of the whole set of influences and interconnections that determine the ways, development, and the very existence of this regime. And there is no constructive component to enable us to complete the transition period and turn into a normal society.

I can say the main feature of our society that the cassette scandal has put under the spotlight is that this is a society of onlookers: obviously, there are much more indifferent people than true citizens in our society. And the point is not indifference as such but the failure to understand that even such seemingly minor problems can influence the conditions under which millions of citizens exit.”