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

2. Introduction: A Delineation of the Research General background Post-Sovietology: ‘widening and deepening’ of the research field. geopolitical post-Soviet entity: more complex picture Central Europe: unambiguous Western choice Eastern Europe: whole range of divergent domestic and foreign policy choices. CIS: different countries with diverse policy goals in one organisation - ‘civilised divorce’. - co-ordinating economic and security policies among the Soviet successor states - sub-regional initiatives: GUUAM, Eurasian Economic Community, Union between Russia and Belarus, Common Economic Zone.

3. Research Questions geopolitical pluralism - divergent foreign policy preferences of the former Soviet states - different political models - diversity in economic transition and trade links how reflected in the institutional change of the newly independent states? countries left ‘in the periphery’ of the European Union: Russia, Ukraine and Belarus: between EU & CIS 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 ?’

4. Choice of countries 3 reasons 1. particular region crucial future EU: new neighbours 2. constitute Slavic core of the CIS: correlation and analogy. 3. differences in foreign policy orientation  indicators Choice of institutions - Presidential Administration - Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Parliament

5. Theoretical framework 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, complemented by Remington’s remark ‘…They generate patterns in behaviour by creating incentives of varying strength ’(Smith & Remington 2001: 7). The void of explaining institutional change new institutionalism > sociological institutionalism> Institutional isomorphism Powell & DiMaggio, 1983: institutional change: institutions becoming increasingly similar (= isomorphism )

6. Processes of isomorphism in Central and Eastern Europe Aim of research: analyse - how isomorphism surfaces through different stages in the institutions of the three selected countries. - exploring and elaborating the causal mechanisms of isomorphism two stages 1. institutional definition towards organisational field 2. homogenisation of these institutions

7. Stage 1: Institutional Definition towards organisational fields organisational field = constitutes recognised area of institutional life analysis of institutional definition towards org. fields --> 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

8. Stage Two: Homogenisation or Institutional Isomorphism - evaluation of institutional change of selected institutions (presidential administration, parliament, MFA) since 1991. - divergence in FP  geopolitical pluralism a.Origins and Patterns of Institutional Change Causal mechanisms  redesigning institutions  isomorphism b.Sources of Variation / Heterogeneity in Institutional Change –history-dependent processes –persisting assumptions –complex interdependencies  path dependent patterns of development

9. Methodology qualitative comparative analysis, MSSD. Skocpol & Somer’s  research cycle Methods and Data Collection Stage 1: literature review, interviews (4 org characterisitcs) Stage 2: - hypotheses  semi-structured interviews; open-ended questions - analysis of primary sources e.g. parliamentary debates, bills and committee proceedings

10. Conclusion 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 ?’ main structure 1. institutional definition 2. origins of institutional change & heterogeneity in isomorphic processes advantages