Institutional Isomorphism in the Slavic Core of the Commonwealth of Independent States A Comparative Analysis of Institutional Change During Post-Communist Transition

General Background Complex geopolitical post-Soviet entity -Central Europe: Western choice -Eastern Europe: divergent FP e.g. CIS: - ‘civilised divorce’ - co-ordinating role - sub-regional initiatives: GUUAM, EEC, Union Russia & Belarus, CEZ.

Research Questions geopolitical pluralism - divergent FP preferences - different political models - diversity in economic transitions how reflected in institutional change of the newly independent states? countries left ‘in the periphery’ of the European Union: Russia, Ukraine and Belarus Research question: ‘Which mechanisms within the political institutions of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus generate ‘isomorphism’ toward the European Union and the Commonwealth of Independent States, and what is the rationale behind the divergent foreign policy orientations in the Slavic Core of the CIS ?’

Theory New institutionalism Def. formal organisation that determines behaviour, interests, and belief-systems and that structures relations between different groups in the national community and international order The void of explaining institutional change new institutionalism > sociological institutionalism> Institutional isomorphism Powell & DiMaggio, 1983: institutional change: institutions becoming increasingly similar (= isomorphism )

Processes of Isomorphism in Central & Eastern Europe  Similar processes in postcommunist transition Aim of research: - analyse how isomorphism surfaces through different stages in the institutions of the three selected countries. - exploring & elaborating the causal mechanisms of isomorphism two stages 1. institutional definition towards organisational field 2. isomorphism of these institutions

Stage 1: Institutional Definition towards organisational fields organisational field = constitutes recognised area of institutional life analysis of institutional definition towards org. fields  presidential administration, MFA, parliament  systematic assessment four organisational characteristics : (1) increased interaction among organisations in the field (2) emergence of sharply defined interorganisational structures of dominance and coalition (3) increase in information load with which institutions and organisations in the field must contend (4) development of a mutual awareness among participants in a set of organisations that they are involved in a common enterprise

Stage 2: Institutional Isomorphism - evaluation of institutional change of selected institutions (presidential administration, parliament, MFA) since divergence in FP  geopolitical pluralism a. reasons for institutional change b.variations in institutional change a. Origins and Patterns of Institutional Change redesigning institutions  isomorphism > causal mechanisms

b. Sources of Variation in Institutional Change –history-dependent processes –persisting assumptions –complex interdependencies  path dependent patterns of development neo-institutionalist approach to geopolitical pluralism institutional change  institutional isomorphism

Structure & Methodology INTRODUCTION PART I Chapter 1 General Background: Geopolitical situation since 1991 in Slavic Core of CIS Status Quaestionis – Research Questions – Relevance of the Research Chapter 2 Theoretical framework: neo-institutionalism, Institutional isomorphism Methodology & Introduction of the Cases PART II - Institutional Definition Chapter 3-4 Assessing processes of institutional change in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus –Systematic analysis of the selected institutions: review policy documents issued by selected institutions. –verifying presence of org. characteristics in institutions of Russia, Ukr & Bel.

Data collection ch 3-4: - literature review: primary sources: official policy documents (MFA, Pres Admin), decrees (pres admin); parliamentary bills & committee proceedings concerning external affairs (EU&CIS) (parliament); secondary sources: relevant academic literature, articles from parlamentskaya gazeta, dumskoe obozrenie,.. - systematic analysis org characteristics; review of official documents complemented by semi- structured qualitative elite-interviews. Verifying respondents perception of the org. fields (EU & CIS) & how the insititution in which they work profiles itself vis-à-vis these org.fields. Target groups: e.g. In parliament: members of the committees; e.g. MFA diplomats to EU & CIS. PART III - Institutional Isomorphism Chapter 5 - explaining isomorphism : comparative analysis of institutional change based on data collected in part II Chapter 6 Exploring reasons of institutional change Causal mechanisms

Chapter 7 Explaining variations in instit change Path dependence: comparing historical processes Creation of institutions & ‘critical junctures’. Data collection ch 5-7: - comparative analysis ch 5: data collected in part II serves as basis for comp analysis. – causes of isomorphism ch 6: elite interviews on causal mechanisms, starting from certain hypotheses connecting instit definition to isomorphism - variations in isomorphism ch 7: comparative historical analysis with a focus on the initial stages of institutional development & ‘puncture points’. - literature review: relevant academic literature, corpus of offic. documents part II Conclusion

Main focus : innovative analysis of processes of institutional change in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. contribution to field of research & theory : 1)Constructing a theoretical framework to systematically map institutional change in Slavic core of CIS. 2)Elaborating ‘weak points’ of inst isomorphism ‘need for understanding sources of heterogeneity & the processes that cause instit change’ (Powell)