Yakymenko Y. Dynamics of Ukraine's party system formation (security dimension).

The thesis is devoted to the analysis of the process of Ukraine's party system formation, its factors, mechanisms and consequences. A comprehensive analysis makes it possible to assess the impact of this process and its outcome in terms of national security, to identify the most pressing problems in the functioning of the party system today. This paper provides a detailed analysis of the party system development, changes that have taken place within political parties, in and around the party system, and the impact these changes have on national security. This paper argues that the party system formation in Ukraine has five stages during which it has evolved from an atomized (first stage) system to the system of polarized pluralism (second-third stage) and further progressed to a moderate pluralism system (fourth stage) subsequently followed by an increasing trend of polarization (the current fifth stage). The study examines a multidimensional and multivectoral (in its nature) influence that political parties and the party system have on national security, which is based on special functions peculiar to political parties and the specifics of implementing these functions in a particular socio-political context. The research highlights the most relevant - in terms of their impact on national security - issues of political parties and the party system, their origins and impact. Based on the analysis of potential factors of influence, a prognosis of further options for the party system evolution is being elaborated in terms of their compliance with the task of safeguarding national interests. The study outlines the most urgent tasks for improving the efficiency of parties' activity, the party system and ways of implementing these tasks.