From private organizations to democratic infrastructure: Political parties and the state in Estonia

Abstract

Estonia, one of the first former Soviet republics to regain independence, had to start the processes of party and state development from scratch, beginning with the development of a legal framework for political parties, establishing a regime of public party financing, and training and deploying elites in party and state administrations. In the case of the last element, a variety of career patterns has emerged as individuals have moved between political and administrative roles. The question of the neutrality of county governors and administrative department secretaries-general has been particularly contentious in what has become a close and strengthening relationship between parties and the state. This is visible in the legal status of parties, their growing reliance on public subsidies, and the substantial circulation of people between administrative and political echelons. This can partly be explained by patronage and the particular legacies of communism and state-building, but the small size of the country may have had an independent effect.

Acknowledgments

The essay is based on a paper presented at the workshop ‘Political Parties and the State in the Post-Communist Eastern Europe’, Leiden, 4–6 November 2005. The research was assisted by the Targeted Financing Grant 0182573 from the Ministry of Education and Science of Estonia. The author is grateful to participants of the workshop, Tanel Mae, Vello Pettai, Tiina Randma-Liiv and Priit Vinkel, for comments and help.

Notes

1. Richard S. Katz and Peter Mair, ‘Changing Models of Party Organization and Party Democracy: The Emergence of the Cartel Party’, Party Politics, Vol.1, No.1 (1995), pp.5–28.

2. Herbert Kitschelt, ‘Citizens, Politicians, and Party Cartellization: Political Representation and State Failure in Post-industrial Democracies’, European Journal of Political Research, Vol.37, No.2 (2000), pp.149–79; and Ruud Koole, ‘Cadre, Catch-all or Cartel? A Comment on the Notion of the Cartel Party’, Party Politics, Vol.2, No.4 (1996), pp.509–25.

3. Ingrid van Biezen and Petr Kopecký, ‘On the Predominance of State Money: Reassessing Party Financing in the New Democracies of Southern and Eastern Europe’, Perspectives on European Politics and Society, Vol.2, No.3 (2001), pp.401–29, Michal Klíma, ‘Consolidation and Stabilization of the Party System in the Czech Republic’, in Richard Hofferbert (ed.), Parties and Democracy (Oxford: Blackwell, 1998), pp.70–88; and Aleks Szczerbiak, ‘Cartelization in Post-Communist Politics: State Party Funding in Post-1989 Poland’, Perspectives on European Politics and Society, Vol.2, No.3 (2001), pp.431–51.

4. Ingrid van Biezen and Petr Kopecký, ‘The State and the Parties: Public funding, public regulation and party patronage in contemporary democracies’, paper prepared for the conference ‘Political Parties and Political Development’, National Democratic Institute, Washington DC, 31 Aug. 2005; Ingrid van Biezen, ‘Political Parties as Public Utilities’, Party Politics, Vol.10, No.6 (2004), pp.701–22; and Anna Grzymała-Busse, ‘Political Competition and the Politicization of the State in East Central Europe’, Comparative Political Studies, Vol.36, No.10 (2003), pp.1123–47.

5. The term has been proposed in Van Biezen, ‘Political Parties as Public Utilities’.

6. Tiina Randma-Liiv, ‘A Small Civil Service in Transition: The Case of Estonia’, Public Administration and Development, Vol.21, No.1 (2001), pp.41–51.

7. Van Biezen and Kopecký ‘The State and the Parties’.

8. Tiina Randma-Liiv, ‘Small States and Bureaucracy: Challenges for Public Administration’, Trames, Vol.6, No.4 (2002), pp.374–89.

9. At the time of writing, its fortunes have turned and the party is struggling near the five per cent threshold in opinion polls.

10. Although ethnic Russians comprise more than a quarter of Estonia's population, the ethnic dimension has faded in party politics since 1999. At present there are no Russian parties in the parliament and most major parties also try to mobilize ethnic Russian voters.

11. Interestingly, when presenting the draft Act to parliament, the minister of justice linked the special and semi-public status of political parties to the fact that other NGOs do not receive subventions from the state budget.

12. Elections in many smaller municipalities have been fought mostly or exclusively between electoral coalitions. Indeed, in municipalities with a few thousand voters, there would be a contradiction between the party membership requirement and ensuring genuine political competition. The amendments to the local elections act were also criticized as an attempt to ‘partify’ municipalities by force. The criticism was fuelled by the fact that coalitions were outlawed only six months before the 2002 local elections.

13. When the lists were publicized, many people found themselves listed without being aware of their membership. They were normally deleted from the lists. However, many probably remain ignorant even of the fact that the lists are public and will not have checked them (it is possible only over the internet). Not too much trust should be put in the membership lists. Some parties with the required number of members have failed to contest any elections. Also, there has been a party with a voter:membership ratio below one – despite fulfilling the membership criterion, the Russian Party in Estonia won less than 1,000 votes in the 2003 parliamentary elections.

14. Randma-Liiv, ‘A Small Civil Service in Transition’.

15. The number of inhabitants was 1,347,510 in 2005: Statistical Office of Estonia, at <http://pub.stat.ee/px-web.2001/dialog/statfileri.asp>; accessed 18 June 2005. A considerable portion of adults are Russophone non-citizens; the number of adult citizens was only 859,714 in 2003: Vabariigi Valimiskomisjon (Estonian National Electoral Committee), at <http://www.vvk.ee>; accessed 30 Oct. 2005.

16. See Paul Sutton, ‘Political Aspects’, in C. Clarke and T. Payne (eds.), Politics, Security and Development in Small States (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1987), pp.3–25; and Randma-Liiv, ‘Small states and bureaucracy’.

17. Very little assistance to farmers existed in Estonia prior to the accession to the EU, except for ad hoc support in case of drought or other adverse climate conditions.

18. The ministries of agriculture and environment have received their share of attention regarding partisan-based nominations: Hindrek Riikoja, ‘Rahvaliitlased on võtnud enda kätte põllumajandusvaldkonna juhtimise’, Postimees, 31 Oct. 2005.

19. Until the political parties act of 1994, the parties were registered according to the civic unions' act, and were not differentiated from other NGOs.

20. That also led to the provision that Estonian parties could not form sub-units abroad, because of fear of the formation of divisions of Russian parties in Estonia.

21. Ülle Madise and Allan Sikk, ‘Die Institution der politischen Partei in Estland’, in D. Th. Tsatsos, D. Schefold and H.-P. Schneider (eds.), Parteienrecht im europäischen Vergleich, Die Parteien in den demokratischen Ordnungen der Staaten der Europäischen Gemeinschaft, 2nd edn (Baden-Baden: Nomos, forthcoming, 2006).

22. For such practices in Hungary see Jan Meyer-Sahling in this collection.

23. Randma-Liiv, ‘Small states and bureaucracy’, p.39.

24. The latter two categories only in cases when the person has also been in national political office.

25. However, the reasons for civil servants entering politics may be more complex, including the possibility of being afraid of losing their position after a change in government when they remain neutral or appear to be on the ‘wrong’ side of the political divide.

26. That mostly covers more recent cases, and some may join the civil service again in the future.

27. ‘Reformierakond pakub Ignar Fjukki riigikontrolöriks’, Eesti Päevaleht, 28 Aug. 2002, ‘Reformierakond pakub Tiit Käbinit õiguskantsleriks’, Eesti Päevaleht, 22 Nov. 2000.

28. The regional minister threatened to resign over the issue, as the prime minister sometimes did not discuss the nominations of acting governors with him: Kalle Muuli, ‘Minister Jaan Õunapuu ähvardas ametist lahkuda’, Postimees, 5 Dec. 2003.

29. Ibid.

30. ‘Õunapuu esitab kolm maavanema kandidaati’, Eesti Päevaleht, 8 Oct. 2004.

31. As of October 2005, four assistant ministers were serving in Estonian ministries.

32. Estonia has a total of 11 ministries; the latest merger included the ministries of economics, and transport and communications.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Allan Sikk

His main research interests are party system dynamics, party financing, electoral behaviour and quantitative methods in political science. He has previously published on post-communist party systems in the European Journal of Political Research.