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2People and Society<br />
Estonian Human Development Report 2012/2013<br />
Introduction<br />
Marju Lauristin<br />
In this chapter, we deal with the institutional environment<br />
of human development, which is related to politics,<br />
governance and media, and on which people’s freedom of<br />
choice, sense of security, knowledge and opportunities to<br />
participate as members of society directly depend.<br />
The year 2012, in the development of Estonia’s<br />
domestic politics, was characterised by heightened civil<br />
activism, increased demands related to the honesty and<br />
trustworthiness of the politicians, increased dissatisfaction<br />
with the functioning of democratic institutions<br />
and the performance of the government. In other post-<br />
Communist states, an increasingly critical attitude has<br />
also developed regarding political developments. Looking<br />
back on the two decades of democratic development in<br />
Eastern and Central Europe, Western social scientists<br />
are asking whether we are seeing democracy fatigue, or<br />
even a reversal in the development of democracy (Rupnik<br />
and Zielonka 2013: 5). The increase in critical activism<br />
can partially be attributed to the impact of the economic<br />
crisis, but those who see the economic crisis as a catalyst<br />
and amplifier of public criticism, rather than as its<br />
cause, are probably right. In Estonia as well, the criticism<br />
is directed less at the problems of coping with the<br />
economic crisis (here our public opinion is considerably<br />
more positive than in many of the other countries gripped<br />
by the crisis), but rather, fundamental issues related to<br />
democracy and governance have been raised.<br />
As the international indicators described below<br />
show, after the restoration of its independence, the state of<br />
Estonia has fulfilled the rules established by the international<br />
environment (European Union, NATO, IMF) in an<br />
exemplary manner, and has achieved a leading position,<br />
among the other transition countries, in moving from an<br />
authoritarian planned economy to a democratic state with<br />
a market economy. Based on these achievements, in 2010,<br />
Estonia was accepted as a member of the OECD, an association<br />
of the world’s most developed and wealthy states.<br />
This event alludes to a significant change in the reference<br />
system for assessing Estonia’s developments. Looking<br />
back on the path that has been travelled, Estonia can be<br />
proud of its leading position among post-transition countries,<br />
based on several development dimensions. However,<br />
at the new stage of development, no longer as a transition<br />
country, but as a full-fledged member of the OECD, it<br />
is more accurate to assess our development based on a<br />
comparison with the social order of the highly developed<br />
wealthy states. Based on this yardstick, the heightened<br />
expectations of the public become understandable, in<br />
regard to both Estonia’s democracy, and the opportunities<br />
for self-realisation that are provided by Estonian society.<br />
Below, the quality of the functioning of the Estonian<br />
state along with an objective assessment of Estonia’s<br />
institutional development level will be examined, which<br />
includes the following: the effectiveness of the democratic<br />
institutions, protection of rights and freedoms, the level of<br />
corruption, domestic and foreign security, and the availability<br />
of information. The indicators that characterise the<br />
relationship between people and the institutional environment,<br />
such as the trust and sense of security related to the<br />
future of one’s country, are also included. The analysis<br />
in the chapter focuses on the composite indices (Bertelsmann<br />
Transformation Index and Global Peace Index)<br />
that reflect the institutional development level of states.<br />
In addition, several more specific indices that assess the<br />
social order and quality of the state’s effectiveness will<br />
be examined, such as democracy indices, media freedom<br />
indices, a corruption index, rule of law index, etc. The<br />
individual indicators that comprise the comparisons of<br />
the institutional development levels of the world’s states<br />
as well as the relationships between people and the social<br />
environment will also be examined. In order to compare<br />
Estonia’s developments with other countries in Europe<br />
and the world, we use data from internationally recognised<br />
expert organisations like Eurostat, Bertelsmann<br />
Stiftung, Freedom Forum, Transparency International,<br />
Global Economic and Peace Institute, OECD, etc.<br />
Estonian Human Development Report 2012/2013<br />
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