Ukraine’s path to oligarchy: Lessons for the U.S.?

By Yuriy Gorodnichenko (UC Berkeley)

Because countries’ political systems tend to develop only gradually, it can be difficult to draw a hard line that identifies country X as a particular regime. There have, however, been some instances in which countries have turned into oligarchies quickly and these unusually rapid evolutions can teach us about the workings of the process as well as symptoms. Ukraine, my home country, is a showcase in this respect.