Estonian Human Development Report

4.4. Political support and political
participation: comparison of
Estonians and non-Estonians
Continuing the topic of social attitudes covered above,
the following subchapter provides an overview of political
support and participation in Estonia with an emphasis
on the comparison of ethnic groups. Answers are
sought to the following questions: How high or low is
the level of political support and political participation
in Estonia (compared to the other Baltic countries, the
countries of Eastern Europe and “old” democracies)?
Has the degree of support and participation changed
over time and how? Are there significant differences in
the levels of support and participation between various
ethnic groups? How justified is the expectation that the
ethnic gap in political attitudes and political behaviour
among the Estonian population will decrease with the
change in generations? 22
What is political support
and why study it?
Organizations that monitor the development of democracy
categorize Estonia as a country where democracy as a
form of government has been consolidated. These evaluations
focus, to a great extent, on the existence of free elections
and the effective performance of democratic institutions.
However, the development of well-functioning
institutions is only one facet of democratization. Another,
equally important aspect has to do with the extent democratic
principles become rooted in people’s attitudes and
behaviour, and concerns popular satisfaction with the
activities of democratic institutions. In order to systematically
examine people’s assessments of the established
political order, it is useful to distinguish among the following
dimensions of political support (Easton 1965, Norris
1999; Klingemann 1999):
1. support for the current definition of the political community
(who should form the citizenry? Where should
the borders of the state be drawn?);
2. support for the fundamental principles of the political
regime (for instance, support for democracy as a form
of government);
3. satisfaction with regime performance;
4. trust in political institutions;
5. evaluations of specific political incumbents.
The study of these various facets allows one to diagnose the
problems of democracy more precisely and to predict the
consequences of possible lack of trust. The following analysis
attempts to summarize the level and trends of political
support in Estonia based on the first four dimensions,
using recent survey data. The principal source of information
is the survey entitled Integration of Estonian Society:
Monitoring 2008, commissioned by the State Chancellery,
and conducted in March–April 2008.
Consensus regarding the definition of
political community
Democracy assumes the existence of a demos: before it is possible
to determine the will of the majority, it is necessary to
define the citizenry, i.e. the people constituting the “nation”
in the political sense of the word. In 2007 Estonia’s permanent
population fell into the following categories: 83% were
citizens of the Republic of Estonia, 9% were stateless and 8%
had foreign citizenship. The total number of stateless individuals
has decreased from 172,000 people in 2002 to less than
111,000 at the end of 2008 (State Chancellery 2008a). At the
same time, existing studies show that the acquisition of citizenship
does not guarantee the development of a “we-feeling”
that transcends ethnic boundaries. The findings of Integration
of Estonian Society: Monitoring 2008 indicate that
while the majority of Estonians feel that they are part of the
Estonian nation in the constitutional sense, this opinion is
shared by only half of the Russian-speaking population as a
whole and two-thirds of Russian-speaking Estonian citizens.
The percentage of the Russian-speaking population who
identify with the Estonian people has significantly decreased
during the last year (see Table 4.4.1.).
Comparing the answers by age group offers some support
to the hope that the ethnic gap in the attitudes of the Estonian
population will decrease with time. According to the findings
of Integration of Estonian Society: Monitoring 2008,
young Russian-speaking Estonian residents are noticeably
more convinced of their affiliation with the Estonian people
than their older compatriots. While 49% of the respondents
in the 50–74-year-old age group and 51% of the 30–49-year-
Table 4.4.1. Self-assessed membership in
the Estonian nation, 2005–2008
Yes
No
Not
sure
Estonians
All
Russian-speaking respondents
Estonian
citizens
Russian
citizens
Stateless
2005 99 74 * * *
2007 99 68 80 54 59
2008 92 52 67 42 34
2005 0 22 * * *
2007 0 17 9 26 24
2008 4 31 20 38 42
2005 1 4 * * *
2007 1 12 11 20 17
2008 4 17 13 9 24
Data: 2002: University of Tartu survey Mina. Maailm. Meedia; 2007: Ethnic
relations and challenges for integration policies after the Bronze Solder
crisis”, Office of the Minister of Population and Ethnic Affairs / Saar Poll;
Integration of Estonian Society: Monitoring 2008.
Source: Marju Lauristin, “Kodanikud ja mittekodanikud”, Integration of
Estonian Society: Monitoring 2008.
22
The execution of the research work reflected in the article has been supported within the framework of grant project 6212 of the Estonian
Science Foundation (“Režiimitoetus uutes demokraatiates: Balti andmestik 1993–2004”).
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