Imagine if you had invested in a Kyiv flag factory and a printing press five years ago, or just happened to have set yourself up as an independent opinion pollster back in the days when such things were the exclusive preserve of the state’s stooges. In all probability you would now be a multi-millionaire, wallowing in your new-found riches and waiting patiently for the latest political crisis to arrive in order to usher in your annual election campaign pay day. Party politics has always been big business in independent Ukraine, of course, but while the politicians themselves continue to fight it out for the right to parcel off the country’s few remaining land plots and squabble over their billion dollar business interests, there are also hundreds of companies making a living from the election process itself.
Unexpected democracy dividend
Economists looking at Ukraine’s formidable GDP growth over recent years have consistently overlooked the role of the election industry in fuelling the country’s impressive stats. This is perhaps understandable, given that electioneering is not generally a sector of the economy that is considered worthy of close scrutiny. However, from its very inception Ukrainian democracy has always been fundamentally about making money and in recent years whole swathes of the population, from students to on through to pensioners, have found ways of making a little extra cash from the endless steam of election campaigns that have shaped recent Ukrainian history.
This election economy has literally mushroomed in the three years since democracy took root in the former Soviet republic. Thousands of Ukrainians are currently earning their livings manning the little tent settlements which routinely accompany the arrival of the election season. They are joined by an endless stream of uniformed flag-carriers, leaflet deliverers and goodie bag distributors. At the far end of this scale are the more unscrupulous (but certainly no less numerous) groups of people who are prepared to participate in so-called people power demonstrations for a fee, regardless of who is paying.
Away from the street-level campaign trail there are additional armies of graphic designers producing posters and T-shirts; teams of pollsters busy with their electoral alchemy; printers working late into the night to produce black PR propaganda pamphlets and a torrent of talk show hosts inviting ordinary folk to put their questions to the candidates. All these people have one thing in common: they are enjoying an unprecedented boost to their standard of living as a direct result of Ukraine’s democratic breakthrough. It might not have been exactly what the heroes of the Orange Revolution had in mind, but the impact is not to be underestimated.
An innovative industry
It should be acknowledged that the country’s election economy is not only growing in size but is also an innovative and dynamic industry which showcases Ukrainian creativity at its very best (and worst). Whereas the only way to make money out of an election ten years ago was to sell your vote for a loaf of bread and a cup of sugar, today’s high tech industry has morphed beyond all recognition and threatens to make Ukraine something of a world leader in the field of pop art politics. With so many parties vying for the public’s attention, innovative campaign gimmicks have increasingly come to dominate recent campaigns. The current Kyiv mayoral election has seen candidates employ teams of roller bladers and cyclists to offer refreshingly ecologically aware messages of support for various candidates, while the less considerate aspects of modern Ukrainian life have also been beautifully encapsulated in the recent addition of giant TV screens and appallingly loud music to the existing tent colonies.
The greatest threat to Ukraine’s burgeoning election industry would now appear to be posed by increasing public apathy, something that is never far below the surface among a population which until recent years wore its political indifference as a badge of honour. For the time being, though, everyone from the communists on through to the nationalists is playing the game and fuelling the growth of the sector. It may all seem a bit silly to those of us brought up to believe that politics should be about more than flags, logos and catchy campaign slogans, but despite its obvious immaturity, Ukraine’s thriving election industry reflects a population slowly embracing political pluralism and more than capable of exploiting the situation to earn a fortune in the process.
