Foreign officials learn lessons of American democracy

Ryan Murphy
News Editor

The United States has a history of rich democratic tradition, stretching back more than two centuries. Five elected officials from halfway around the world visited VCU last week in hopes of tapping into that history and gaining a better understanding of how to run their own democratic state.
VCU faculty and graduate students hosted delegates from Ukraine between Feb. 2 and Feb. 9. Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, celebrated the 21st anniversary of its independence last December. During their brief time in the United States, the delegates learned about America, meeting with state legislators and policy experts, shopping at Short Pump and attending Super Bowl parties.

The theme of the program, known as the Open World Program, is centered on the role of state legislators in accountable governance. The delegation held meetings with Virginia state legislators, Richmond City and Henrico County officials and VCU professors to learn about economic development, the government’s role in the lives of its people and promoting citizen activity in politics.

“The United States has been a democratic society for more than 200 years. We as Ukraine, as a new independent country that was founded over 20-something years ago, have good examples (for encouraging democracy) by looking at the U.S.,” said Volodymyr Osypynko, a deputy head of the Crimean Office of the Party of Regions, through an interpreter. He said that his profession for the past 10 years has been to encourage people to be active participants in the political process.

“We do have tools (to engage citizens), but the thing is, we aren’t really good at using these tools, not as good as Americans are,” Osypynko said. He noted that observing the Virginia General Assembly and meeting with Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce was enlightening, and that officials told the delegation that they are “going in the right way in terms of developing (their) democracy” in Ukraine.

This is the third year the Open World Program has been hosted at VCU. Amanda Velez, the program’s coordinator at VCU, said that it is a collaborative effort between the Global Education Office, the L. Douglas Wilder School of Public Affairs and the School of Mass Communications and is largely funded by the Library of Congress.

“We want VCU to be a platform for learning … (so people can) come, learn about the American system of government and learn from professionals in their fields,” Velez said. “We also see it as a way for the VCU community to experience and interact with the world here in Richmond, without even having to travel.”

The seed of the project was planted when VCU mass communications professor Jeff South spent time training journalists in Ukraine in 2007. He said he wanted to maintain a relationship to the country, and was approached by FHI 360, a nonprofit human development organization, about hosting journalists and elected officials from former Soviet-bloc countries during their trips to America.

“There’s a big push at VCU to internationalize our curriculum, and our activities overall, and this is part of that; learning from people in other countries, how things operate and introducing them to what VCU and Virginia and America have to offer,” South said.

John Aughenbaugh, a public policy instructor at VCU’s Wilder School, held two seminar discussions with the delegation during their visit.

“For many of them, because they are in positions of government authority and they’re trying to make a democracy work, and it’s a young democracy, they’re trying to figure out what they can learn from the U.S. version or what they can avoid,” he said.

Depictions of the U.S. governmental workings in television news and on the Internet often lead to a lot of questions, based on cultural and historical differences, Aughenbaugh said. During one of the seminars, the delegates inquired about American property taxes and the implications of the new government-mandated health care plan.

“It seems like the government is against the people,” said Mykola Yanaki, the chairman of Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, in reference to the U.S. government enacting what some of the delegates saw as policies at odds with the public’s desires. He noted that in Ukraine, only about 5 percent of citizens pay property taxes — those who own houses or apartments above a certain size, or those who own more than one property — and that universal health care is guaranteed by the Ukrainian Constitution. Aughenbaugh said that this kind of exchange is exactly what the program is about.

“They are just completely befuddled by certain things that we in the United States sort of just take for granted. My American students would never ask me some of those questions,” he said. “I end up being reminded or learning a lot about my own country simply because of what I have to explain about my own country and watching their reactions or getting their questions.”