DEVELOPMENT

Figure 2.8.4
Changes releated to trust in government, Estonia and the reference states, from 2006 to 2012
Estonia
Czech Republic
Slovakia
Hungary
Slovenia
Finland
Denmark
Netherlands
Greece
Trust, percentage
2006
2007
2009
2010
2011
2012
2006
2007
2009
2010
2011
2012
2006
2007
2009
2010
2011
2012
2006
2007
2009
2010
2011
2012
2006
2007
2009
2010
2011
2012
2006
2007
2009
2010
2011
2012
2006
2007
2009
2010
2011
2012
2006
2007
2009
2010
2011
2012
2006
2007
2009
2010
2011
2012
75
70
65
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
75
70
65
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Source: Eurobarometer
a loss of trust among the Russian-speaking respondents;
2009 – impact of the economic crisis; 2012 – Reform
Party financing scandal).
Estonia’s problem is the strong correlation between
the trust assessments and the ethnic background of the
respondents, which reflects the different attitudes of the
Estonians and the Russian-speaking minority toward the
Estonian state (Figure 2.8.3). It is also noteworthy that the
Russian-speaking respondents demonstrated greater trust
in the parliament than in the government, but the opposite
is true of the Estonians, who trust the government more.
However, when comparing the changes in the trust
in Estonia’s government, with that in the reference states,
we see clearly that, despite the economic crisis, some
governments retain the trust of the people and some do
not (Figure 2.8.4). In the old democracies, the trust in the
government has been declining steadily in Greece, but, in
the Baltic Sea area, which is of interest to us, Denmark has
turned out to be the most vulnerable. On the other hand,
the ratings of the governments in Finland and the Netherlands
have turned out to be consistently high, regardless
of the crisis. The trust level of Estonia’s government has
remained higher than that of the other new EU Member
States. Initially, the rapid recovery from the crisis raised
the level of trust in the government, but in the autumn
of 2011, this started to decline. It is worth observing how
Slovenia and the Czech Republic, which, to date, have
consistently outstripped Estonia in human and economic
development, and have tried to maintain a “soft line” in
their reform policies, have ended up in a serious crisis of
trust, during and after the economic crisis.
Simultaneously with trust in the government
(Figure 2.8.5), a change has also occurred in the trust in
political parties, which has been lower than the trust in
the government, and which declined, in many states, to
below 10%, during the crisis. After the crisis, the trust in
political parties increased only in Finland and Denmark,
and somewhat in Slovakia and Hungary, while, at the
same time, the trust in the political systems of Slovenia
and the Czech Republic were not able to recover, even by
the end of 2012. In Estonia, the decline in the trustworthiness
of the government, compared to 2010, has been
faster and sharper than the reduction in the trustworthiness
of the political parties, which, until 2011, remained
higher than in the other Member States.
However, it can generally be stated that, regardless
of the increase in public criticism, Estonia’s political
system, which is based on representative democracy, has
become more stable than in the majority of the other
Eastern and Central European states. However, if we compare
all the other European Union Members States with
the problem child, Greece, the question develops, whether
trust in the government, parliament and political parties
has been decimated by the economic crisis, or is the reason
why Greece actually cannot cope with its problems
is the existence of a great deficit in social capital, and a
total lack of trust.
2.8.2
Satisfaction with the functioning of
democracy
Trust in political institutions is an indication of how
well democracy functions in the given state. Or, in other
words, to what extent people perceive that the state
authorities are capable of finding solutions to problems,
while also considering the interests of various societal
groups, in the process.
The following percentages of the citizens are satisfied
with the functioning of democracy in their states:
90% in Denmark, 78% in Finland, 75% in the Netherlands,
and 70% in Austria. On the other hand, 76% of
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