For the first time since Russia’s full-scale invasion more than three years ago, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reshuffled his Cabinet. The big news: Yulia Svyrydenko, a young economist with close ties to Western countries, is the new prime minister.
Yet the real message is that Ukraine, which willingly put its elections on hold to fight the war, struggles to remain a responsive democracy. Its elected national leaders have not had to face voters since 2019. Instead, politicians are being judged on how well they listen to citizens and patiently reflect on issues or – as American founder James Madison put it – achieve “the cool and deliberate sense of the community.”
A Cabinet reshuffle is one tool in a democracy’s arsenal to refresh legitimacy. Ukrainians have another one that, even without elections, has elevated ideas for governance to the top of the national dialogue.
Soon after Russia began to take its neighbor’s territory in 2014, the government in Kyiv set up a digital portal for citizens to file a petition to the president with requests for policy reform or relief. If 25,000 people endorse an e-petition, the president is obligated to respond.
The use of this online suggestion box rose quickly after the war started, although few pleas reached the 25,000 threshold. About a third of people find it an efficient way to influence officials. If you read a news story about a “public outcry” against a government proposal in Ukraine, that phrase often means citizens complained via an e-petition.
Last year, for example, when Ms. Svyrydenko was economy minister, she backed off a plan to exempt employees in certain companies from being enlisted in the war effort. She cited a “public outcry.” After a recent petition did reach the threshold for presidential action, Mr. Zelenskyy thanked “everyone who joined the use of such a form of interaction between the authorities and society.”
In many ways, Ukraine has developed a collaborative, participatory democracy that helps embolden its people to win the war. In contrast, Russia passed a law July 17 that punishes internet users who merely search for banned content.
President Zelenskyy remains highly popular and trusted, according to polls, while half of Ukrainians say the country is moving toward the development of democracy. A recent report on digital transformation found Ukraine has achieved “a culture of openness, transparency, and innovation in the public sector.”
Sometimes neither ballot boxes nor bullets win wars. Rather, it is a spirit of equality, humility, and respect.
