Abstract
<jats:p>The purpose of the article is to analyse the transformation of the People's Movement of Ukraine from a public movement into a political party and its consequences for Ukraine's political development. The scientific novelty of the article lies in its comprehensive analysis of the internal organisational and ideological factors in the transformation of the People's Movement of Ukraine into a political party, and in its assessment of their impact on the formation of a multi-party system in Ukraine. Conclusions. The People's Movement of Ukraine became one of the key factors in the political mobilisation of Ukrainian society in the late 1980s and early 1990s, combining the functions of civil resistance, national and cultural revival and political opposition to the Soviet system. Its emergence was due to the crisis of Soviet ideology, the rise of civil initiatives, and the growth of national consciousness in the context of perestroika. A feature of the NRU was its initial organisational openness and ideological heterogeneity, which provided a broad social base and rapid growth in influence, but at the same time imposed structural constraints on further institutionalisation. The rejection of rigid ideological frameworks at an early stage was tactically justified. Still, in the context of the formation of a multi-party system, it became a factor of internal disintegration. At the same time, the Movement's inability to transform mass support into stable parliamentary representation testified to its limitations in the context of the transition to institutional politics. The transformation of the People's Movement of Ukraine into a political party was a natural stage of its evolution. Still, it was accompanied by a split within the national-democratic environment, a loss of mass appeal, and a decrease in its influence on political processes. In general, the experience of the People's Movement of Ukraine demonstrates the complexity of the transition from a broad civil movement to institutional party politics in the conditions of post-Soviet transformation. The NRU left a deep mark on the process of state formation and the formation of the political culture of independent Ukraine, but the transformation at the same time testified to the limitations of the Movement as a long-term instrument of political struggle in the conditions of stabilisation of the political system. Keywords: People's Movement of Ukraine, political transformation, political party, Ukraine, multi-party system.</jats:p>