Sydorchuk O. The Impact of Semi-Presidentialism on Democratic Consolidation of Post-Socialist Political Regimes (Cases of Poland, Russia, and Ukraine).

In the thesis, the impact of semi-presidential form of government on democratic consolidation of post-socialist regimes has been analyzed. A model for studying this impact has been put forward according to three main factors connected with semi-presidentialism: type of semi-presidentialism, clarity of formal distribution of executive powers, and level of compliance with these formal norms by main actors. Three connected hypotheses were also formulated. The impact of semi-presidentialism on democratic consolidation of Poland, Russia and Ukraine has been analyzed according to the described model. It has been established that premier-presidentialism is more favorable for democratic consolidation than president-parliamentarism, although to fully realize its positive potential, formal executive powers should be clearly delineated, and key political actors should comply with existing formal division. Possible scenarios of future development of Ukraine's form of government have been distinguished, and their impact on democratic consolidation has been analyzed.