Academic Conference “The Role of Money in Ukrainian Politics and Elections”
When
Where
Organized by
V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) are jointly organising the academic conference “The Role of Money in Ukrainian Politics and Elections”, to look at political party and campaign finance in Ukraine. The purpose of the conference is to engage Ukrainian and international academics in a discussion about key issues relating to political finance in Ukraine, with particular consideration of the recent presidential and parliamentary elections, and laying the foundation for further similar events after the October 2020 local elections. International political finance experts will participate in the event and provide feedback on the presented papers.
The Conference is organized through the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Global Affairs Canada and UK aid.
Aims
The main aims of the conference are to:
- Engage Ukrainian and international academics in a discussion about key issues relating to political party and campaign finance in Ukraine
- Provide input for recommendations for legal, procedural and behavioural reform from IFES & ODIHR
- Potentially lay the foundation for further similar events after the local elections (including campaign finance process evaluation)
Focus areas
The conference will focus on issues concerning money in Ukrainian politics, including:
- Gender/diversity analysis of Ukrainian political finance
- The impact of political finance dynamics on Ukraine’s youth
- Political finance and electoral/political violence in Ukraine
- The role of new technologies in Ukrainian political finance
- Issues relating to the recently concluded presidential and parliamentary elections and upcoming local elections
- Political finance in Ukraine in comparative context
Location
The conference will be hosted at the V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University that is located in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Participants
The conference will attract participation of:
- Senior Ukrainian academics with a focus on political finance, political parties, electoral politics or anti-corruption (approx. 10 participants)
- Junior Ukrainian academics with research interest in above areas (including PhD students working on theses in related areas) (approx. 10 participants)
- International political finance experts, including from IPSA RC 20 on political finance and political corruption (approx. 3-5 participants)
- Practitioners with an interest in addressing issues from an academic perspective (such as CEC and CSO representatives) (approx. 3-5 participants)
- ODIHR Election Monitoring Mission expert on campaign finance.
Call for papers
In preparation for this event, ODIHR is now issuing a call to academics and practitioners working in Ukraine to submit academic paper abstracts on related topics. The abstracts should include:
- Name of proposed author(s)
- Proposed title of paper
- Main research question to be addressed
- If applicable, hypothesis/hypotheses to be tested in the paper
- Intended methodology
- Sources to be used
The deadline for submitting an abstract is 14 October 2019. The abstracts will be reviewed by the organisers, and selected authors contacted no later than 18 October 2019.
Please direct your abstracts and application forms to Jacopo.Leone@odihr.pl, mohman@ifes.org and j.bidenko@karazin.ua indicating your name and “Call for papers to Academic conference - The Role of Money in Ukrainian Politics and Elections” in the subject line.
Language of papers and event discussions
Abstracts and papers could be submitted in English (preferred) or Ukrainian. The Conference discussion will be held in both English and Ukrainian.
Accommodation
All participants of the Conference will be accommodated in shared twin rooms at Reikartz Kharkiv Hotel, 25-minute walk for the V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University premises.
Fees
There are no fees. Accommodation and meals for participants will be covered by the organizers. Travel expenses of participants will be reimbursed by the organizers.