5 - Mobilization against Russians in Ukraine

Summary

Chapter 5 examines the individual-level determinants of radical right party success in Ukraine, a country with a relatively weak radical right with a vast pool of grievances associated with corruption and economic malaise, along with a fluid party system that generates new parties every electoral cycle. Unlike Slovakia, Ukraine has a large ethnic minority (Russians) that threatens the dominant nationality with an actual status reversal. One might expect Ukraine to be a poster child for radical right mobilization. Yet, at the individual level, the analysis consistently shows that the logic of backlash against status quo shifts is equally applicable in such a distinct context. Resentment against government transfers for Russians is also a much better predictor of radical right voting in Ukraine than group hostility or xenophobia.