SPEA project awarded millions

The Parliamentary Development Project at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs received a five-year, $4.9 million grant this week to continue its work building democratic institutions in the Ukraine.\nThe funds, awarded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, will allow the PDP to build on years of work helping the former Soviet republic make the transition from communism to democracy. \nThe Ukraine, just west of Russia and north of the Black Sea, has a population of nearly 50 million people -- almost as large as France. It has been an independent state since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.\nSen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) strongly supported the grant proposal.\nAccording to Lugar's press release, he said he believes the new funding will allow IU professor Charles Wise and his development team to build on the non-partisan work they have done with the Ukranian parliament over the past years.\nPDP director and SPEA professor Wise stressed the project's importance.\n"The United States has an interest in making sure democratization proceeds here," Wise said.\n"(Progress toward democracy) is not irreversible. It's going to take a while for democracy to be consolidated in many of these countries."\nThe PDP provides guidance to the Ukrainian parliament -- the Rada -- and non-governmental organizations. \nWise has more than a decade's experience in providing expertise to the Ukrainian government. In 1991, just after the country declared its independence from the Soviet Union, he guided the first delegation from the Ukraine to the U.S. Delegates attended conferences in Bloomington, Indianapolis and Washington, D.C. \nSince then, the PDP has continued to host delegations and conduct exchanges between the United States and the Ukraine, in addition to advising the Ukrainian parliament.\nWise said some of the PDP's advice is basic, like helping the Rada's members develop parliamentary rules or methods for holding hearings.\nWise said other projects are more complex, such as the PDP's internship program.\n"We have advertising across the Ukraine and all its universities to get the best and the brightest to apply to be parliamentary interns," Wise said.\nInterns work with committee staff and Rada members, and many have gone on to full-time positions in the legislature, Wise said.\nThe PDP has also worked with the Rada's media relations office. Efforts have included developing a better Web site for the parliament and making the Rada more accessible to citizens.\nThe Ukraine's political history left it somewhat unprepared for democratic self-rule because the country was part of Russia and Poland for hundreds of years, said IU history professor Hiroaki Kuromiya.\nThe Ukraine was briefly free of Russian rule during the civil war following the 1917 October Soviet Revolution. The U.S.S.R. reconquered the country after only a few years.\n"Ukraine never had any independence," Kuromiya said. "Until 1991, it didn't really exist except as a constituent republic of the Soviet Union."\nKuromiya said while there weren't any political bases for a democracy in Ukraine, there were cultural roots. \n"Ukraine prides itself on the Cossack tradition, which is very democratic, as opposed to Polish aristocratic or Russian autocratic traditions," Kuromiya said.\nHowever, he said, Ukrainians had no way of realizing what they believed was their unique sort of traditions under imperial rule.\nWise said that while the Ukraine has seen progress over the past 12 years, challenges remain.\n"It takes a while to develop the habits of democratic citizenship," he said. "If there's something which concerns them, they're not sure what they should be doing about it."\nWise said the freedom of Ukraine's press is one stumbling block.\n"The regional media have a hard time getting information about the parliament and providing current information about things that affect people in their areas," Wise said.\nSome threats to a free press are more direct. A U.S. State Department annual report on human rights for the Ukraine released in March 2003 documented instances of Ukrainian officials intimidating the media.\nAccording to the report, in some cases, authorities told journalists which stories to cover and which to ignore.\nAt other times, according to the State Department, the Ukrainian government told businesses from which television stations they should buy advertising.\nSome observers see Ukraine's president Leonid Kuchma as another obstacle.\nKuchma has been severely criticized by his opponents in the Rada for proposing constitutional reforms that would strengthen the presidency. \nWise said the PDP is conducting analyses of proposed changes to the constitution for the benefit of the Rada and the Ukrainian public.\nHe also said that with the new grant, the PDP hopes to expand its activities.\n"We will be working with a number of non-governmental organizations that seek to involve a variety of citizens' groups in the activities of the parliament," Wise said.\nBringing women's issues to the forefront is another one of the PDP's goals. Wise said the PDP wants to increase the number of women in Ukraine's parliament and expand the Rada's consideration of issues important to women.\nFor more information on the PDP, visit its Web site at www.spea.indiana.edu/pdp.\n-- Contact staff writer Paul Musgrave at rpmusgra@indiana.edu.