Hybridity of Ukrainian Society in the years 2000 - 2012. Between Political Activity and Political Apathy

It is difficult to characterize Ukrainian society as fully active or passive, as, on the one hand, public participation and involvement in political life as well as large mobilization in situations where civil interests are violated are clearly visible, and, on the other, we can notice a decrease of political activity as a consequence of these events. The aim of the present work was to analyze and explain the specificity of the functioning of Ukrainian society in the years 2000 – 2012. The study was conducted with the author’s own designed tool based on the concept of ideal types developed by Max Weber. The analysis of political apathy used a dissonant category of political activity and the conclusions were drawn on the basis of whether the legislation of Ukraine promotes an active attitude of society and the extent to which the provisions of the law are reflected in real involvement of Ukrainian citizens in political matters. The results show that participation of Ukrainian society in different forms of political activity does not entail its full realization, while the fact that Ukrainian citizens got involved in public affairs excludes the recognition of Ukrainian society as fully apathetic. Thus, in the case of Ukraine, we are dealing with a hybrid society characterized by political activity with elements of political apathy.