How Ukraine’s Parliament functions during wartime

"When the executive's powers expand, as often happens during wartime, it is the responsibility of parliament to ensure that the country does not devolve into autocracy."

Stanislav Ivasyk, Research Manager of the USAID RADA: Next Generation program, wrote about parliamentary democracy in Ukraine in wartime in his column for The Kennan Institute, a US think tank.

According to him, despite serious security challenges, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ensures the functioning of parliamentary democracy. It's proved by the fact that:

1. the Parliament returned to political debates as soon as the situation on the frontline allowed it;
2. the VRU fulfills its constitutional responsibilities and has minimally delegated powers to the government during martial law;
3. the Parliament tried to compensate for the closure of the Verkhovna Rada building by active communications in parliamentary social media.

Read more about the work of the Ukrainian parliament since the beginning of martial law in the column.

The data for this column were taken from the study "Parliament under Conditions of War: Ukraine's Example" conducted by the USAID RADA: Next Generation program's experts.