State and Institution Building in Ukraine represents the first in-depth and comprehensive study of state building in Ukraine. As opposed to previous books, which have focused on the political and economic transformation of the Soviet successor states, this volume argues that a market economy and democracy cannot exist in the absence of an effective state and governing institutions. Ukraine was only a quasi-state within the former USSR when it declared independence in August 1991, and thus it inherited only the rudiments of what is normally considered a "modern state." The development of a viable and capable state with effective institutions was prioritized by the executive and legislative branches who understood that a democracy, civil society, rule of law, and market economy could not be created in the absence of a genuine, functioning state. This study is the first to survey institution and state building in Ukraine by placing it within a comparative and theoretical perspective, challenging many of the current misconceptions about Ukraine and other post-Soviet countries.