[Aaus-list] Andreas Umland vs Decommunization Law

[Oleh Weres]

Professor Umland's comments are a bit much and really miss the point.

Agreed, the Law is a mess.  It's purposes were legitimate but it was  
poorly drafted and went way to far.

But the problem really wasn't with Vyatrovych, Shukhevych et al who  
drafted it.

Laws are properly drafted by legislative staff working under the  
supervision of legislators, and thoroughly reviewed and reworked by  
legislators as they move forward.  Outside "experts", lobbyists, etc,  
contribute their advice which can be followed or not.

In this case, the fault lay with the Rada which uncritically passed the  
draft prepared by Vyatrovych et al without properly reviewing what was in  
the draft.  A carefully drafted "sense of the Rada" RESOLUTION would have  
served the Law's legitimate goals without providing fuel for Russian  
propaganda and creating messes which will need to be cleaned up.

The main failure lay with the Rada which failed to do its job.  The  
problem wasn't caused by lack of academic credentials.  After all, the Law  
was not a manuscript to be peer reviewed for publication.

I chalk it up to lack of experience and amateurism on the part of the Rada.

And, in my opinion, President Poroshenko failed to do his job too. He  
should have vetoed the thing and immediately proffered a properly drafted  
resolution to replace it.

And finally, I do not agree with Professor Umland that only much published  
academics are allowed to express an opinion on Ukrainian history in what  
was in this case within the sphere of national identity, public opinion  
and public policy rather than academic research.

-- 
Oleh Weres

PS  Most of you don't know me, because I am not an academic.  However, I  
did serve as a Public Member of the US Government Commission on the  
Ukraine Famine and thus had the opportunity to observe at close range how  
the work of historians (Jim Mace et al) properly feeds into the work of  
legislators.  In addition to supporting historical research, the FamComm  
effort had obvious though unstated purposes much like those of the cited  
Law.