Antonova O. Political threats to stability of new democracies.

The thesis is devoted to clarification of factors that break the stability of the new democracies and carry threats of breakdown. Based on the conducted analysis it is found that there are two types of political problems threatening the stability of new democracies: institutional and behavioural. The work identifies three key institutions, functioning defects of which may lead to serious concerns for the stability of the new democracy: the legislature, the party system, elections. These are the main institutions that define the configuration of the entire system of a democratic regime. Therefore, defects in the performance of these institutes cause a chain reaction of other violations of relationship between institutions and their functionality. Behavioural threats to the democratic regime are always connected both with antisystem elites, and with the general public, which provides the overall context in which interactions of strategic elites takes place. While the general public as a rule never causes destruction of democracy directly it is an important factor in the preservation or destruction of democracy. Institutional and behavioural threats are closely linked, because political actors act within institutions, and institutions act through people. The key to successful consolidation of democracy is to adjust a new system of democratic institutions, effective functioning of which will restrain political actors from antisystem action and contribute to the growth of the general loyalty to a democratic regime.