Poliitikauuringute instituudi bakalaureusetööd – Bachelor´s theses

Selle kollektsiooni püsiv URIhttps://hdl.handle.net/10062/24342

Kuni 2015.a. Riigiteaduste Instituut

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Läti siirdeaja periodiseering ja poliitilised protsessid Lauristini ja Vihalemma siirdeprotsessi raamistiku näitel
(Tartu Ülikool, 2012) Aljas, Riin; Pettai, Vello, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaal- ja haridusteaduskond; Tartu Ülikool. Riigiteaduste instituut
In 2011 all three Baltic states celebrated their 20 year anniversary of regaining independence. Despite the similarities between the countries and quite equal starting positions after breaking away from Soviet Union, we can see today, that Baltic countries are not as similar as they used to be. That is, especially in the case of Latvia and Estonia. After the financial crisis of 2009, Estonia has once again gained reputation as the shining star of the Baltics. To see whether this image is a myth or it is just a shallow observation, we should look at the progress made in transition period. Hence, the aim of this bachelor paper was to periodize the past 25 years (1986-2011) of Latvia using the framework, developed by Marju Lauristin and Peeter Vihalemm for periodizing the same era years in Estonia. In addition to getting an overview about Latvian transition, its outcomes and impacts on society, the paper tried to test whether historical periodization is suitable and useful in that kind of transition analysis. The paper claims that the development of two countries have been quite similar, as in the most cases periods crutial for transition match quite perfectly. However, if one looks at the differences, it can be seen that Estonia has been faster and the periods are more distinguishable than in Latvia. Taking account the societal and human development aspect of transformation, it seems that Estonia is not far better off than Latvia, when we leave out corruption. In all other aspects Estonia struggles with the same problems characteristic to all post-soviet nations.
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Äärmuslikud vaated vasak-parem skaalal ja poliitiline osalemine Euroopa Sotsiaaluuringu küsitluse põhjal
(Tartu Ülikool, 2012) Tomson, Age; Mölder, Martin, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaal- ja haridusteaduskond; Tartu Ülikool. Riigiteaduste instituut
The aim of the analysis „Political Participation and Placement on Left-Right Scale based on European Social Survey Data“ is to describe the relation between political participation and political views on left-right scale. Socio-economical variables are also added to demonstrate their influence on the previously mentioned relation. Political participation is often understood and analyzed in terms of voting behavior. In this paper broader definition of participation is used. Political participation is an attempt of an individual or a group to influence the process of political decision-making. Taken from the European Social Survey 2011, three possibilities of political participation are considered: singing petition, participating lawful public demonstration and working in another organization. To view political views of individuals, their self-placement on left-right scale is used. At the beginning of this paper I constructed an argument based on theories of Robert E. Lane, David O. Sears and Giovanni Sartori about extreme views and political participation. I claim that people with extreme views tend to be politically more active than people with moderate political views. This claim did not get asserted in this paper. It came out that only people with left-extreme views are politically more active than moderates and right-wing extremists in general are not. The only exception occurred in working in another organization where in some cases there were more active participants among right-wing extremists than among people with moderate views. Higher level of education influenced participation as theory suggested. Participation level was higher among people with 15 years and more education than people with less education. Influence was similar inside all political viewgroups: left-wing extremist, moderates and right-wing extremists as well. Theory also suggests that people with higher level of household income participate more. It also got confirmed as participation rates gradually rise when family income increases. When considering the age of the most active participation, it should be middle age, somewhere between forties and fifties. Current analysis confirms that and shows that people who participate are on an average younger than people who have not participated in last 12 months in specific form of political participation. When looking data about states separately, the main trend is that citizens of European Union old memberstates participate more than people from new memberstates. In addition, in countries where the participation rates are high in general, participation rates of left-wing extremists are extremely high. On the other hand when looking into an example of working in other organizations, participation rate among people who consider themselves right-wing extremists is quite high when compared to signing petitions and attending demonstrations.
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Eurotsoon kui optimaalne valuutapiirkond - poliitilise integratsiooni tähtsus valuutaliidu toimimiseks
(Tartu Ülikool, 2012) Raudsepp, Joosep; Veebel, Viljar, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaal- ja haridusteaduskond; Tartu Ülikool. Riigiteaduste instituut
The aim of my bachelor thesis was to explore and analyze the euro area according to optimal currency theory. The first part of this thesis gave an overview about the theoretical background, brought out and explained seven main criteria which have to be met in order to create currency union. Furthermore it also viewed the costs and benefits which might occur when adopting single currency and joining the monetary union. The empirical part focused on putting the theory into practice. All seven previously mentioned criteria – price and wage flexibility, factor mobility, degree of economic openness, market integration, similarities of inflation rates and finally, fiscal and political integration were analyzed according to euro area and its member states. As a result of this I found out that only two criteria were more-less fulfilled: these were market integration and similarities of inflation rates. Other criteria were not met and therefore my hypothesis was confirmed: eurozone is not an optimal currency area. I also dedicated whole chapter to the most important criteria: political integration, where I analyzed which interests dominate in the euro area and who benefits from it. I explained two main political models which have influenced eurozone the most. These models were intergovernmental bargaining, a Franco-German deal and supranational politics, international institutions and investors. As a result I found out that the most influential actors in euro area are Germany and France, whose interests dominate in the currency union. Unfortunately this does not benefit the union as a whole and is beneficiary only to the main actors in the euro area. In order to eurozone to function properly the main actors should be supranational instead of intergovernmental. To conclude I must admit that at this moment euro area is definitely not an optimal currency area and as long as there is a lack of political will and integration, the eurozone will not fit to be one also.
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Demokraatia jätkusuutlikkuse võimalikkusest Eestis 1933. aasta põhiseaduse järgi
(Tartu Ülikool, 2012) Karelsohn, Hans; Kasekamp, Andres; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaal- ja haridusteaduskond; Tartu Ülikool. Riigiteaduste instituut
Estonia had its first constitution adopted in 1920, just two years after gaining independence. It might not be well known that a new constitution – officially a law for changing the existing constitution – composed by the Estonian Veterans’ League, was adopted by the citizens of Estonia in a referendum in octobre of 1933. Just a few months later, in march 1934, the rightist politician Konstantin Päts made a coup d’état with his fellow general Johan Laidoner. They established an authoritarian dictatorship, not following the new constitution. Thereby, Päts himself declared that this constitution was so poorly composed that it easily led him to take full control of the power. Since a lot of nowadays’ historical approaches of that era are based on the works composed between 1934 and 1991, there have been claims as if the constitution of 1933 was authoritarian or even fascist. This might lead to false interpretations amongst the Estonians today. Therefore it was important to analyse if a democratic regime was possible according to the Veterans’ League’s constitution as they themselves claimed. We took under review different aspects of democracy, also looked at it from a point of view of the constitutional law. Since it was announced by the Veterans’ League that their constitution would have established a presidential democracy, we had to take a look at the risks that would accompany this regime. It was also necessary to take a peek at the Estonian Veterans’ League movement itself, since its policy and goals in Estonia in the 1930s gave an idea, what they were hoping to achieve when changing the constitution. We also saw some opinions of the contemporary lawyers and politicians about the new constitution. Finally, the most important thing was to analyse the changes of the constitution themselves, occasionally comparing them to the current Estonian constitution and the one from 1920. All in all, it could be said that eventhough the constitution of 1933 complied the needed characteristics of democracy, there were some important shortages. The leader of the executive power, the president, would have been elected directly by the citizens of Estonia. But one of the problems was, for example, that he would have had the chance to constitute decrees and therefore soley influence the work of the parliament. So we could say that the continuity of democracy would have been possible according to the constitution of 1933 but would have depended too much on the person elected as the president: he could have legally established an authoritarian-like regime.
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Migratsioonitrendid tänapäeva Euroopas - Suurbritannia näitel
(Tartu Ülikool, 2012) Kents, Liisi; Toomla, Rein; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaal- ja haridusteaduskond; Tartu Ülikool. Riigiteaduste instituut
The object of this Bachelor Thesis is to describe the migration tendencies in today’s Europe based on migration of United Kingdom by pull and push factor theory. This research focuses on United Kingdom mainly because the majority of the sources and legislative material is available in English, making it easier to interpret. United Kingdom has also been one of the post popular migration destinations in Europe within the past ten years. Data and statistics used in this thesis are from Eurostat and Office for National Statistics. As a result of this research it appears that migration tendencies in Europe have changed compared to what they used to be ten years ago. Analysis of the data definitely points to the expansion of European Union back in 2004 which opened important borders between many Eastern and Western Europe countries as a result of which latter then became popular destinations for eastern immigrants. Significant increase of immigrants was seen also in United Kingdom. This Bachelor Thesis will analyze some of the reasons why. E.g. - considering country’s favorable migration and integration politics and law one of the main pulling factors are solid welfare system and economic climate in United Kingdom which provide higher than European Union’s average income to its’ residents. In addition to pull and push factors this research also focuses on different migration types in United Kingdom. It shows that migration politics of United Kingdom differentiates immigrants from Commonwealth countries, European Union and third countries applying different laws and legislations to mentioned groups. This thesis will review the conceptual differences between those regulations. Keywords: Migration Policy of United Kingdom, Migration trends, Netmigration, Push and Pull factors.
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Valimissüsteemi muudatuste hindamine Eesti parlamendivalimiste näitel
(Tartu Ülikool, 2012) Vakmann, Kadri; Solvak, Mihkel, juhendaja
The aim of this research was to assess seven theoretical changes of Estonian electoral system based on four evaluation criteria: simplicity, extent of the change, proportionality and fragmentation. The seven changes explored were: replacement of modified d’Hondt with regular or the sequence of Sainte-Laguë, applying natural quota or Droop quota and largest remainders method, increasing district magnitude and losing or decreasing national threshold. To give an assessment to these changes of electoral rules, an experiment was carried out with data from the last two elections of Estonian parliament in 2007 and 2011. Effects of the change were considered positive if they made the electoral system simpler, did not assume huge changes in the existing system, gave more proportional results and did not increase fragmentation considerably. Based on the criteria and the data, the best changes were replacing modified d’Hondt with regular one in the compensational tier and decreasing the threshold to 3% or losing it altogether. Both of these changes made the electoral system less complicated, they were not large-scale changes, they brought about a more proportional seat distribution and they did not make the parliament considerably more fragmented than the actual electoral system. It is important to note that the results of this research have their limits. The experiment showed that from the perspective of proportionality and fragmentation, same changes of electoral system may give different results. The effects of the particular system do not depend only on electoral rules, but importantly also on the input – distribution of electorate’s votes among parties. The input of the two elections, whose data was used in the experiment, was quite different. That made possible that the same changes affected proportionality and fragmentation differently in each case. To make comprehensive conclusions, it is essential to increase the number of cases studied and test the results on broader data. Secondly, as more or less every aspect of the party system is affected by the electoral system, it is important to use more criteria than in this work in assessing the effects of changing the electoral system.
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Euroopa Liidu ühtse välispoliitika kujunemine konflikti lahendamisel – Liibüa konflikti näitel
(Tartu Ülikool, 2012) Naaber, Meelis; Veebel, Viljar, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaal- ja haridusteaduskond; Tartu Ülikool. Riigiteaduste instituut
The Lisbon Treaty introduced significant changes to the structure of the Common Security and Foreign Policy of the European Union. The crisis in Libya was the first serious test for the new institutions and members states under the new agreement. The geographical proximity of the conflict and the large influence it had on southern member states demanded action from the EU. The purpose of this thesis was to analyze the possibilities, obstacles and results of the formation of a common foreign policy in the EU in the light of the Europeanization process. In order to achieve these three objectives had to be solved. Firstly, a theoretical approach to the integration of the EU had to be selected as a comparicement for the case study. Secondly, an analysis of the behavior patterns of the actor in the foreign policy sphere was necessary. Lastly, a case study on the Libyan conflict of 2011 was conducted to examine the real life implications of theoretical aspects. Among member states some indications of Europeanization was found, but no progress in comparison with previous actions. France continually tried to upload its policies in order to amplify them. Germany had shown marks of Europeanization in the past but completely discarded them during the Libyan crisis. Great Britain continued its pragmatical relationship with the EU. The results of the study showed a lack of utilization of the mechanisms of Europeanization in the common foreign policy of the EU and the actions of the member states. The institutions of the European Union, with Catherine Ashton as the High Representative of CFSP in initiative, did not fulfill the expectations laid on them. The analysis of her actions and statements showed rather the lack of intensions then possibilities to carry her position into effect. In conclusion, the conducted case study showed rather the ongoing domination of the intergovermentalistic approach to the common foreign policy of the EU then strengthening of the mechanisms of Europeanization.
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Euroopa Liidu võimalused konditsionaalsuse kasutamisel Türgi liitumisprotsessis
(Tartu Ülikool, 2012) Hakk, Janar; Veebel, Viljar, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaal- ja haridusteaduskond; Tartu Ülikool. Riigiteaduste instituut
The purpose of this paper is to explain the politics of Turkey’s accession into the EU by the use of conditionality. The main conclusion is that in order to most effectively assist Turkey in it’s democratization process, the EU should clearly state the accession of Turkey as the prize for fulfilling the Copenhagen criteria. Mixed and negative signals by the EU and it’s member states leads to disappointment in the Turkish public, which in turns means less support for policies demanded by the EU. Turkey’s, currently the 3rd most populous country in Europe next to Russia and Germany, quest for westernization and democratization is of great importance for the whole region. With it’s economic and military capabilities, while also being a democratic and secular muslim state it could be a great asset for the EU in it’s dealing with other countries in the neaby area. Making Turkey a member of the EU would be good for the reputation of both sides. Turkey would without a question be considered a democratic country with rule of law and respect for human rights as well as other positive connotations being a member of the EU brings forth. The EU would also gain credibility with its support for multiculturalism and equality of peoples no matter their religion or cultural background. Relations with muslim countries would probably thus be also a bit easier to handle. In reality, however, prejudice and political populism inside the EU is a strong force which hinders the EU’s ability to effectively influence Turkey by the use of conditionality. Giving Turkey more both moral and material support would surely give wished results in policy change, as it can be seen that westernization and thus democratization is the most important goal for the country even if no support from the EU can be had. The goal for Turkey is not the EU in itself, but the characteristics associated with it. There are no real big risks that Turkey could bring to the EU, as most effects seen as negative, such as budgetary stress and institutional troubles could be managed by a series of reforms, which would probably be needed anyway. Thus it would be wise for the EU to try to minimize discouraging remarks on Turkey and instead make full use of Turkey’s enthusiasm by clearly offering it membership if the conditions are met.
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Riiklik identiteet kui välispoliitika kujundaja: Eesti välispoliitiliste erisuste seletamine Venemaa ja Gruusia näitel
(Tartu Ülikool, 2012) Kalm, Helga; Pääbo, Heiko; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaal- ja haridusteaduskond; Tartu Ülikool. Riigiteaduste instituut
After Estonia joined the European Union and NATO in 2004, there has been a lot of talk about what Estonian identity in foreign politics is and what it should be. There has also been some debate about whether Estonia is too aggressive in its relations with Russia. Building on Alexander Wendt’s idea of social constructivism, we analyzed Estonian foreign policy towards Russia and Georgia. Estonia has close relations with both of the countries. Also both of the countries have had some internal problems in regards to democracy. We looked at the representations of Russia and Georgia in the speeches of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The analysis starts with the year 1994 as the transition period started to stabilize and clear long-term policies were beginning to be formed. After analyzing the representations of Russia and Georgia we also looked at the representation of the 2008 conflict between Russia and Georgia in the discourse of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. In general, Russia is seen as aggressive actor in International Relations that does not respect international law and is unwilling to cooperate in economic and boarder issues. After concluding that Georgia is represented mainly as a recipient of development aid and as a victim in the conflict, we looked at Estonian own identity. Estonian self-representation as a democratic European country conflicts with Russian and Georgian type identity, as both of them are less democratic. In the case of relations with Georgia it does not stop the formation of collective identity, which is mainly based on homogeneity and common fate. However, in relations with Russia it adds to the already existing image of Russia being an aggressive state that is unpredictable. In short, it further disables the formation of a collective identity, which is a base for friendly relations between countries. In conclusion, we can see that different identities influence relations differently depending on the context and that in the course of interaction these identities are being constantly reproduced.
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Väikeste ja keskmiste ettevõtete ligipääs riigihangetele Euroopa Liidus. Eesti näidetel
(Tartu Ülikool, 2012) Männama, Urvo; Kivistik, Kats, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaal- ja haridusteaduskond; Tartu Ülikool. Riigiteaduste instituut
Small and medium enterprises (SME-s) are the backbone of the EU economy, generating more than 2/3 of the GDP and employing 99% of the working force in the EU. However, the area where SME-s are lacking the most is the public procurement market, where as a general rule, they are consider under represented. Mainly due to the fact that larger corporations are more successful in winning government contracts. European Commission passed the „Small Business Act“ in 2011 and its main idea is to promote the new law-making principle – „think small first“. The idea behind the principle is to have all the member states to passing laws, which take the SME-s interest into consideration as the first priority and thus helping reduce the bureocracy and increasing the competitivness of the SME-s compared with bigger businesses. The aim of this thesis is to find out the main hindering facts that prevent SME-s to be as successful in government organized tenders and to promote find possible to the issues addressed. The focus of the thesis is mainly on Estonia, but also about the general trends in the EU. Based on the research, there are amongst other factors, two main reasons for the SME-s to be not as efficient in public tenders: 1) Too complicated tender procedures and the lack of e-tender systems. 2) Corruption. In order to increase the SME-s access and participation in public procurement tenders, the first things that need to be done from the institutional perspective is to have the tenders organized in a trasparent way, where the documents and other necessary requirements are publicly and openly available to all the interested parties. Thus, there is also a need for e-procurement systems, where the info help tools are readily available for the SME-s. Currently, there is already a similar system built in Estonia, but as it is still in development, the real benefits of it have still not been proved. At the same time, there are many countries within the EU that do not have the e-procurement systems developed at all. Corruption is seen as one of the most difficult issue to tackle, as it is relatively difficult to assess. Many countries have the lack of resources to have proper authorities in order to conduct surveillance on their public servants. However, corruption is not s serious concern in many countries, especially in the more developed Western and Northern European countries. Since the focus of this paper was Estonia, then it is rather clear to say that corruption is seen as a clear problem based on the findings presented in this thesis.
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Põhiseadusliku patriotismi potentsiaal rahvusluse asendajana Eestis
(Tartu Ülikool, 2012) Aasmäe, Toomas; Piirimäe, Eva, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaal- ja haridusteaduskond; Tartu Ülikool. Riigiteaduste instituut
Since its re-independence in 1991, Estonia has had an immense economic and political success - especially if compared to other ex-soviet states - it has joined NATO and European Union, it is also the only ex-soviet state to adopt the euro currency. But in society-level, it has one large problem still unsolved. One third of the population - the non-Estonians, mainly Russians - are not well-integrated in the society. 7% of the population are Russian citizens and almost as much do not have any citizenship. As non-citizens, their rights on the highest level - voting - are limited to local councils only, the cannot vote or in Parliamentary elections. Even more, many Russians are primarily influenced by Russian state-media and other info channels, leaving them outcast in Estonian society. After the Bronze Riots in state's capital Tallinn in 2007 April, where atmosphere of national conflict rose to unprecedented level since the re-independence, a state-wide debate began in Estonia, primarily about how to improve the integration process and how to further avoid such conflicts. In 2009. Estonian state Ombudsman Indrek Teder reflected, that maybe the best solution to unite the state population as one would be concentrating on the idea of constitutional patriotism instead of nationalism. "Citizens' connection with their country should be rational and based on proven values, not in irrational nationalism and passion", Indrek Teder said. (Teder 2009) But constitutional patriotism is also a still a theoretical concept, which means it isn't proven to be the main basis of any state's national identity and should not be as the only basis of a nation's identity. Estonia cannot be compared to other states that are sometimes brought out as examples of implementing constitutional patriotism (Germany, USA), simply because of our unique geopolitical issues. It might be said that Estonia must be in constant defense position, as long as its neighbor state Russia is politically aggressive and anti-liberal. Nationalism, which was contraindicated to German identity because of their difficult history of its improper use, is preferable in Estonia's position, considering our history of its (Estonian nationalism's) suppression by our neighboring nation. Its removal from the core of citizens' identity would be unrealistic, not to say a security risk. This paper explains that constitutional patriotism has many valuable arguments that should be or already are part of Estonian citizens' identity such as attachment to liberal democracy, equality of all men, etc. Also, it is found that universal constitutional values should be more stressed in Estonian society, but that does not mean abandoning nationalism, just equilibrating it.
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Väliskaubanduse mahu ja tasakaalu seosed riikide kaubandusprotektsionistliku poliitikaga
(Tartu Ülikool, 2012) Kraavik, Raido; Solvak, Mihkel, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaal- ja haridusteaduskond; Tartu Ülikool. Riigiteaduste instituut
The reasons and outcomes of trade protectionist policies have been examined by many researchers, in particular in the last two decades. The interest in this area have been intensified in recent years mostly due to the severe financial crises. From theoretic standpoint, the relations between trade protectionist policies and external trade are quite clear. Nevertheless, from empiric point of view no uncontested relations have been found. At the same time these questions are to be solved by policy makers as the peril of protectionist wave is very topical. In these circumstances it is vital to bring some clarity to this issue of dissenting opinions. According to this, the aim of the research is to clarify the relations between trade protectionist policies and export, import and net export. As we cannot defy the structural differences between countries, these relations are analyzed separately among countries with different levels of development. To meet the objective of this research, first, it is essential to explain the concept of trade protectionism and the resulting global impacts as well as the interests of specific countries. Second, it is important to ascertain the theoretic or expected relations of issue concerned. Third, it is needful to examine through empiric analysis whether and to what extent these expectations stand in real world. From theoretic viewpoint, it is expected that an increase in the level of protectionism leads to lower level of both export and import. All in all, these impacts are equal and therefore there is no effect on net export at all. This model expects constant value of savings and investments. To examine these relations between countries, it is needed to reduce the impact of different levels of savings and investments, i.e. structural differences between countries. To do this, all cases are separated based on income level to low, lower middle, upper middle and high income cases. By analyzing these relations, differences according to income levels have been revealed, in particular in relations between trade protectionism and balance of external trade. Since export and import as percentage of GDP decrease in most cases as the level of protectionism increases, this can be linked to theoretic approach. However, the relations are not as simple when we look at balance of external trade. Low income countries on average maintain the level of net export as the level of protectionism increases and that is exactly what theory have approved. The results are more interesting in cases of middle and high income countries. Middle income countries on average seem to improve the balance of external trade while turning more protectionist. On the contrary, high income countries on average improve net export in case of liberalisation of trade policy. The result that protectionism may affect the balance of external trade is the most remarkable finding in this study. As can be seen, only highly developed countries may get direct economic benefits from liberalisation of trade through improving net export. This is most probably going to be the main obstacle why further trade liberalisation will not be very successful. The most presumable solution for this would be to change the system of getting benefits at least as much as no specific countries could get considerable damage. Otherwise, there is a great threat that a protectionist wave is going to take place. The consequence of latter would be notable economic loss for almost all countries.
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Uurimustele toetuv linnapoliitika Eestis: linnauurimused ja arendamine Eesti suurimates linnades
(Tartu Ülikool, 2012) Veskemaa, Harry; Jauhiainen, Jussi S., juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaal- ja haridusteaduskond; Tartu Ülikool. Riigiteaduste instituut
Background. In last couple of decades there have been big changes in cities. Industrial cities based on mass production have been replaced by post-industrial cities. Global and local processes affect simultaneously urban development. Knowledge, innovation and creativity are in the center of urban development to increase quality and attraction of living environment. Whereas development of cities has become more complex and sophisticated, various type of research has become important to keep in touch with different aspects of urban development and to make deliberate and accurate decisions. Aim. The aim of the Bachelor thesis was to find out what kind of research Estonian largest cities (Tallinn ja Tartu) conduct, how it is organized and how it is used? Methods. The information about what kind of research cities do was found on webpages of Tallinn and Tartu. Tallinn has a special research information system and Tartu’s webpage includes a separate research register, where all research done by different departments has been drawn together. To explain how cities organize and use research were carried out unstructured interviews. 6 interviews were conducted – 3 in Tallinn and 3 in Tartu. In both cities was one interview conducted with a person more familiar with reasearch: in Tallinn with the head of the Public Service and Research Department Liina Kilemit and in Tartu with the head of City Development Service Imbi Lang. In both cities 2 additional interviews were carried out. Outcomes. Cities make research in very different spheres: economy, turism, population, public management, transportation, environment, education, social welfare, healtcare and media. Research is predominantly based on need and it is ordered from private companies, universities and ohter science institutions. Research results are used mainly in different developmental documents and plannings.
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Euroopa Kohtu mõju Euroopa Liidu integratsioonitasemele: õppurite õiguste tagamise kaasuste näitel
(Tartu Ülikool, 2012) Sõrmus, Merilen; Veebel, Viljar, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaal- ja haridusteaduskond; Tartu Ülikool. Riigiteaduste instituut
Although the European Court of Justice has sometimes even been called the "motor of integration" and the driving force of integration that influences the level of integration through its case law, this notion has not been commonly adopted and accepted by all theoretical approaches dealing with European integration. Debates on the ways how the role and influence of the Court of Justice on the EU integration process should be interpreted are still topical. The choice of subject for this Bachelor's thesis is based on the fact that the free movement of students in the EU and studies in other Member States have become such a common part of everyday life that the author of the thesis became interested in finding out whether and which changes have taken place in connection with the rights of students. The subject of the thesis is topical as the number of students who use the opportunity to move freely in the EU area without internal borders and to study in another Member State has statistically been growing yearly. The aim of the Bachelor's thesis was to analyse the influence of the Court of Justice on the integration level of the European Union and to find an answer to the question whether and in which cases the decisions of the Court of Justice can influence this integration level. The thesis concentrated on the analysis of the rights of students and the European Communities’ competence for education and the role of the Court of Justice in this process. The thesis posed the following hypothesis: the European Court of Justice has a dominant effect on the integration level of the European Union, but this is true only if the Member States lack a common position on the issue brought before the Court of Justice. The empirical data comprised five of the most important rulings of the Court of Justice on students' rights, which were also referred to most frequently in specialised literature. The aim of the methodological framework created for analysing the empirical data and of the analysis was to determine which of the integration theories dealt with in the thesis, i.e. neofunctionalism or liberal intergovernmentalism, better explains European integration. The empirical analysis was carried out separately for each case, but the analysed data were compared to test the hypothesis, and general conclusions were drawn on this basis. The results of the analysis did not confirm the hypothesis of the thesis and the influence of the Court of Justice on the integration level had to be affirmed even in situations where the Member States had a common position which was almost without exception contrary to the opinion of the Court of Justice on the specific issue. The ruling of the Gravier case showed that the Court of Justice does not allow Member States to dictate the way how to interpret Community law or how to define a specific term (in this case the term "vocational training") in Community law. Basically the court stated in the Gravier ruling that the possibilities for obtaining education and internships and participation in studies are regulated by Community law, which is why it is forbidden to discriminate against students from other Member States on the basis of citizenship, which also applies to prescribing an enrolment fee as a precondition to being admitted to a vocational training course. The court ruling in the Blaizot case where the Court found that the term "vocational training" does not exclude university education and extended this term on certain conditions also to university studies was one step forward in increasing integration in the field of the Community's competence for education. The change in the integration level could not be considered defined in the ruling made in the Brown case where the Court stated clearly that the development level of Community law regarding competence for education during the preliminary ruling does not allow for subsistence and education allowances given to university students of other Member States to be considered to belong within the scope of the Treaties. While in the Gravier and Blaizot case, the Member States submitting their comments lacked the necessary number of votes to have a blocking minority in the Council of the European Union during the preliminary ruling procedure, which would have allowed them to block unfavourable decisions taken via qualified majority voting in the Council of the European Union, the blocking minority was reached in the Brown case. In the Grzelczyk case the Court of Justice dealt with rights stemming from European Union citizenship and solved issues related to the conditions of receiving social benefits. The Court of Justice stated in its ruling that developments have taken place in the EU’s competence for education, making it necessary to change previous case law, i.e. the statements of the Brown case, and to take the position that the EU law recognises certain financial solidarity between Member States and hence also the right of students from other Member States to receive social benefits if certain conditions are met. Despite the existence of a common position of the Member States contradicting the Court of Justice in the Grzelczyk case, the Court made a ruling that could be considered as reinforcing the level of integration. The Member States laid a significantly strong emphasis on the preliminary ruling procedure in the Bidar case, which dealt with issues on receiving study loans, and they took the common position that subsistence allowances do not fall within the scope of the Treaties. Despite the strong opposition by the Member States and the European Commission, the Court found that education allowances in the form of study loans and stipends belong within the scope of the Treaties, and hence extended the rights of students. As the Court of Justice made decisions that clearly increased the rights of students and the Community's competence for education and did this despite the common opposition by the Member States, it can be said that the neofunctionalist integration approach proved to be more accurate. However, the court rulings analysed in this thesis alone are not a sufficient basis to state unambiguously that the Court made rulings reinforcing the integration level regarding the competence for education with the clear aim of increasing its own influence and role, which is why the accuracy of the neofunctionalist integration theory cannot be definitively affirmed. The thesis concludes that the European Union integration process is essentially such a multifaceted and complex process that neither approach alone, i.e. either neofunctionalism or liberal intergovernmentalism, can fully explain the European integration process and the role of intergovernmental institutions in it, which is why further research in this field will be necessary.
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Heaoluühiskonna sotsiaalmajanduslik jätkusuutlikkus Euroopa Liidu 15 liikmesriigi näitel aastatel 2004-2010
(Tartu Ülikool, 2012) Mikker, Taavi; Kaldaru, Helje, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaal- ja haridusteaduskond; Tartu Ülikool. Riigiteaduste instituut
As a result of aging of the population, economic stagnation and financial crisis the question of European welfare society and its sustainability has become a matter again. On this topic there has been many discussions and debates in recent years. The last financial and economic crisis showed that the welfare society may not be so stable as it seems and it's sustainability needs to be questioned. This thesis approaches the problem by defining the welfare state, also by explaining different classification of states or models and different views to the question in the theoretical part of this paper. In the empirical part 15 European Union members are being analyzed according to different socio-economic indicators and the conclusion to the questions raised are made. The main purposes of this thesis is to describe and explain different approaches to welfare state; give an overview of historical development of welfare state; explain the emerged social changes and problems in society; analyze the sustainability of the welfare state in the light of last economic crisis and to make conclusions for development. There has been many approaches and different classification of the welfare states and to the question of country's responsibilities towards its citizens. In this particular thesis the question of classification was solved by defining different states according to the functions of the state and the scale of responsibilities and functions it offers. According to the comparison of the groups and the correlation analysis there is hard to say whether and for how long the welfare society is able to function present way, because the differences in the socio-economic indicators were not so obvious and clear. Despite this, there are clear trends, that can be seen in the indicators, which European countries need to solve by reforming the welfare state model.
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Liberalization as the trigger for transition: president Khatami's unsuccessful attempt to reform Iran
(Tartu Ülikool, 2012) Roon, Maarja; Kilp, Alar, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaal- ja haridusteaduskond; Tartu Ülikool. Riigiteaduste instituut
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USA välispoliitilise sekkumise õigustamine ja hegemoonia demokraatide ja vabariiklaste omavahelises võrdluses
(Tartu Ülikool, 2012) Koorep, Ranno; Kilp, Alar, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaal- ja haridusteaduskond; Tartu Ülikool. Riigiteaduste instituut
The goal of this study was to examine the connection between U.S. foreign intervention, its justifications and hegemony. Attitudes of both democrats and republicans were assessed based on the justifications given by U.S officials to interfere in Kosovo in 1999, and in Iraq in 2003. Also, a perspective for the future was created based on the findings. In the light of upcoming presidential elections and talks about the potential decline of U.S. supremacy, these findings may prove to be useful. The study acknowledged the fact of U.S. hegemony and its strong remaining potential in the world today. It was brought out that the United States has both leadership and dominance, has the capability to merge soft- and hard power and is ready to actually use its supremacy when needed. The main concept of this work is an understanding of U.S. hegemony as a progressive phenomenon, which means that America has always been moving step by step towards bigger involvement and primacy on an international scale. It was also found in the study that the safeguarding of hegemony, foreign intervention and changes in justifications are continuing trends in U.S. defense and foreign policy rather than just policy goals for democrats or republicans. It was stated that America uses its supremacy to redefine international values or terms like sovereignty to find new justifications for interfering. However, some differences were found between democrats and republicans, main one of then being the fact that republicans tend to use more self-seeking and real threat-posing justifications as democrats rely more on moral values and the involvement of international communities. Based on these findings, it can be said that future governments led by republicans might have a bigger tendency to act on their own while democrats pursue hegemonic goals mainly through the work of international organisations.
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Islami Koostööorganisatsiooni liikmete solidaarsus või mittesolidaarsus usukaaslaste de jure tunnustamisel: Kosovo näide
(Tartu Ülikool, 2012) Mäe, Indrek; Toomla, Rein, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaal- ja haridusteaduskond; Tartu Ülikool. Riigiteaduste instituut
The topic of this Bachelor thesis is „Recognitional solidarity or dissolidarity of Organization of the Islamic Conference in the direction of islamic countries: Kosovo example“. The questionable solidarity issue is important in the islamic world because the islamic religion says that solidarity and unity are the most important aspects in taking decisions by government or state. Almost half of the members of OIC do not follow that principle and are not solidary with the new states of the same religion. Kosovo is a good example – the state is not recognised by half of OICs members and it is important to research why this is. Firstly, it is important to describe in what conditions a state has a right for recognision. The islamic law is slightly different form the International law.The first chapter describes the differences and the priorities that have to be accepted by islamic state who wants to be recognised by other islamic states and International community. Secondly there is an assessement which tries to find out if Kosovo has a right for recognition by islamic and International community based on the criterias described in the first chapter. Kosovo have the match with most of the criterias and thus it can be said that islamic countries are not solidary with each other based on recognition problem. The third part of bachelor thesis describes the reasons why there is no solidarity between OIC members and the new islamic states. The most important reason is connected to the fact that dissolidary OIC’s member states have very good relations with Russia, who is not intrested in recognising Kosovo. So, Russia has huge influence to OIC members that do not recognise Kosovo. There are also other reasons for lack of solidarity within islamic world. For example the distribution of the islamic religion and the problems connected with the minorities in the different OIC’s member states.
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Kodanikuühiskond: kriitiline ülevaade mõõtmise meetoditest
(Tartu Ülikool, 2012) Lillemets, Jüri; Solvak, Mihkel, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaal- ja haridusteaduskond; Tartu Ülikool. Riigiteaduste instituut
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Parteide poliitiliste vaadete roll valitsuskoalitsioonide moodustamisel: Eesti ja Slovakkia näited
(Tartu Ülikool, 2012) Masing, Indrek; Mölder, Martin, juhendaja
The main aim of this thesis is to assess the possible role of parties policy preferences in coalition formation. Author will assume that coalition will be ideologically coherent around formateur. Author will test this assumption on the cases of Estonia and Slovakia. The role of policy will be assessed on the basis of the data of the Manifesto Project (MP). The Manifesto Project (formerly known as Comparative Manifesto Project) is the most comprehensive and arguably the best available source of information on the policy positions of parties. The project consists of a content analysis of election manifestos whereby the content of manifestos (political statements) is categorized across categories. The proportion of each category for a manifesto is calculated and thus the final data for each party manifesto is the proportions of the manifesto devoted to each of these 57 categories. Almost all previous reserch on this topic has been based on left-right scale. Instead of using left-right scale, author of this thesis will suggest that better way to assess parties ideological proximity is to compare relevant parties election manifestos. Methodology of this thesis is based on two steps. The first thing, which should be done, is to determine the formateur on each case.The second, the Manifesto Project database would be updated and restructured from around elections to around coalition governments, which have actually formed. Also, the policy difference between pairs of 39 political parties will be calculated as the total sum of differences across all the 56 substantive dimensions of the Manifesto Project dataset, which will be used to assess the difference between parties instead of the left-right scale. This would, among other things, allow to create a measure of policy proximity for each coalition by considering the differences between the formateur and its coalition partners versus other parliamentary parties. Results from Estonia and Slovakia show that although policy plays somewhat important role in coalition formation, it is hard to assess is it the main preference when parties choose their government partners.

Sirvi

Sirvi Poliitikauuringute instituudi bakalaureusetööd – Bachelor´s theses Kuupäev järgi