Demokraatia ja valitsemise õppekava magistritööd – Master´s theses

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The Brexit effect: the UK citizens’ attitudes in the years following the referendum
(Tartu Ülikool, 2021) Churkina, Yelyzaveta; Mölder, Martin, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
According to the rational choice theory, political parties seek to maximise their utility in gaining extensive support of the electorate. Hence, after the Brexit referendum 2016, the Conservative party was supposed to strategically encompass Eurosceptical policies - which correspond to the electorate’s demand - and secure its capacity to cope with the Brexit negotiations and delivering the withdrawal. In parallel, the Labour party was heavily criticised for the party leader’s vague position on the issue, insufficient and lacklustre work, and poor criticism of the Conservatives. Therefore, there is an assumption that the issue of Brexit caused aligning the two major political parties with the electorate in the context of the withdrawal. This Master’s thesis examines how the two major parties reacted to and aligned with the voters’ political demands to secure the state’s economy, control the influx of immigrants, and reform the UK-EU relations in light of Brexit. Three waves of European Social Survey data sets were selected, which made it possible to track how the two parties started encompassing the European issues in the context of the Brexit negotiations. In the logistic regression models built for 2012, 2016, and 2018, the increasing inter-parties gap, i.e. polarisation was revealed, concerning the key policy dimensions linked to the Brexit process. Over the timespan, the differentiation has become much clearer, meaning that the Conservative party - by securing its position as the party delivering Brexit - responded to the political requests of a concrete segment of the electorate demanding to “Get Brexit Done”. In opposite, the Labour party did attract voters (in the aftermath) with a lower level of economic satisfaction and rather positive attitudes towards immigrants and European integration.
Societal gaps in attitudes regarding conscription: the case of Estonia
(Tartu Ülikool, 2021) Nuutre, Sigrid; Ehin, Piret, juhendaja; Raik, Kristi, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
While many countries have replaced conscription with professional voluntary armies, some have retained it. In democratic countries public opinion is essential for policymaking, this applies also for security and defence policies. There are only few countries where public opinion towards conscription has been studied continuously over time, Estonia being one of them. When examining public support for conscription it is also important to look into differences in public opinion among different societal groups over time. The objective of the thesis was to explore whether and how attitudes towards conscription vary across different social groups as well as over time, and to offer and evaluate possible explanations for why these variations exist. This thesis develops and tests four hypotheses focusing on differences between societal groups in Estonia in their attitudes towards conscript service, using a multimethod design. The quantitative data was extracted from three opinion surveys and the qualitative data was extracted from nine expert interviews with a purpose to find possible explanations to those existing differences. The empirical results show that even when attitude among the general public of Estonia towards conscript service is highly supportive, gaps exist between younger and older generations, Estonian and Russian-speaking residents, and between conscripts and general population. The results of expert interviews suggest that possible explanations for variations across age groups include different threat perceptions among younger and older generations. A possible reason for the variation between conscripts and general population is that those young people who are conscripted have their own ‘skin in the game’ and their freedom is constrained. Reasons why variations exist among people with different language of communication are language barriers and different information spaces.
The availability of the housing program for internally displaced people in Ukraine: barriers and facilitators
(Tartu Ülikool, 2021) Abbasova, Samira; Kaldur, Kristjan, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
The purpose of this thesis is to research a housing program for internally displaced per-sons (IDPs) in Ukraine and identify factors hindering its successful implementation (suc-cess in this thesis is defined as high rates of participation). Housing policy is important to be researched because it has a crucial influence on the ability of IDPs to adapt to a new community. Access to adequate and affordable housing is the first step in their pro-cess of resettlement and integration. The Affordable Housing Program (AHP) of Ukraine was designed according to the pref-erences of IDPs and provided them with funding for housing purchase since 2017, but the program lacked participants. To find out why, there was, firstly, a detailed analysis of program design and its’ requirements conducted. After that, 24 Ukrainian IDPs were interviewed including AHP participants and the control group of other IDPs. The re-search supported the hypotheses of the thesis and concluded that the main factors con-tributing to hindering the program are (hypothesis 1) administrative issues with the pro-cedure (the most important of them being the long waiting queue for the assistance) and (hypothesis 2) the high financial requirements of the program, which were difficult to be met by participants. Two other hypotheses of the research were not supported. The first one stated that the IDPs do not participate in AHP because of the lack of knowledge about the program, when in actuality they were well-informed about assistance programs. The other stated that IDPs have no need of private ownership of housing, but the interviewees expressed an aspiration to purchase housing. Despite those aspirations, IDPs were rather limited in their financial abilities to purchase housing, even with AHP assistance. Thus, it was concluded that the state should provide displaced people with different kinds of programs helping not only with purchase, but also giving options of affordable temporary accommodation. Otherwise, the general in-tegration of IDPs into a new community (as well as their employment, political partici-pation, getting healthcare, education and other services) will be hindered by the absence of such a primary need as housing.
Transformation of electoral systems in Russian regions
(Tartu Ülikool, 2021) Yagudin, Ruslan; Mölder, Martin, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
One of the features of the political environment of modern Russia is the absence of a real separation of powers. Over the past twenty years, the national government has completely subordinated the executive, legislative, and judicial powers. This goal was achieved through the construction of a vertical of power. As a result, the rights of the president and his administration increased, the regions submitted to the Kremlin, and the hegemony of the pro-presidential ruling party in the national and local parliaments was established. In the early 2000s, Russian regions were independent of the Kremlin; they controlled the regional budget, pursued their policies, and traded. To build a vertical of power for the national government, it was essential to repair local parliaments by introducing the party in power. For this, both violent and illegal methods were used, such as falsifying elections or eliminating political competitors, and more formal ones, for example, changing articles of the Constitution and laws of Russia. From 2003 to 2018, there were more than 200 changes to electoral rules in Russian regions, which ensured the victory of the ruling United Russia party. Since the regions differ from each other in social, political, and economic parameters, the changes in the conduct of elections and the reasons for these changes are different. In this paper, I attempted to identify the factors of the transformation of electoral systems in Russian regions. Using the theory of rational choice institutionalism as a theoretical framework and logistic regression as a research method, I found out that United Russia and the governors were the leading players who influenced the changes in electoral systems in the regions. It was also possible to find out how political actors influenced the transformation of the components of electoral systems, such as the size of the parliament, the electoral threshold, and the rules by which parliamentarians are elected.
Implementation of patient-centered care in primary medical care reform in Ukraine 2018-2020: an exploratory study of stakeholder perceptions in Kiev and Ivano-Frankivsk
(Tartu Ülikool, 2021) Riznychuk, Olga; Muhhina, Kristina, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
The Master’s Thesis is focused on the perceptions of patient-centered care by different stakeholders on the primary health care level in Ukrainian two cities, Kiev and Ivano-Frankivsk. To improve the quality of primary health care services in Ukraine, population health in general and make sure that the citizens are provided with equal access to health care services at all levels, the new health care reforms were implemented by the Ministry of Health in late 2017. An essential role in these reforms is the focus on the patient, the so called, patient-centered care (PCC), which should improve the quality of care, make the primary care level more reliable and leave satisfied patients and doctors. This is a comparatively new approach for Ukraine, as before there was a doctor-centered model where the patient’s point of view was not required, as the healthcare sector worked just as a system and for the system. There is evidence that doctors are not ready for this new approach as they were always considered as the center of the system and were in charge of the patient’s health. Therefore, the aim of the research is first of all to find out the main objectives of the PCC approach and understand the perception of PCC from different stakeholders' viewpoints, because the literature review demonstrated that there should be the same understanding of the certain element of the reform by all stakeholders in order to have a successful reform implementation. Last but not least, it is also important to find out how PCC contributes to the quality of care. It is also important to compare and contrast the findings from both cities and to see how the reform is implemented and whether there are different understandings of the PCC approach. The research contributes to the understanding of the PCC approach in health care not only in Ukraine but to the literature regarding PCC. The researcher also identified policy implications that can be introduced for improving the reform implementation process in Ukraine. Additionally, the research findings may have useful applications in other countries who still suffer from the doctor-centered or system-centered healthcare system and wish to implement another approach in health care. The framework may be also useful for conducting similar research.
COVID 19… 84? The stringency of responses to COVID-19 across the world
(Tartu Ülikool, 2021) Romanov, Bogdan; Solvak, Mihkel, juhendaja; Kabanov, Yury, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
In December 2019, the world heard about the COVID-19 virus for the first time. It has been almost two years since the date, yet political science and public policy disciplines cannot predict or explain the stringency level of introduced anti-coronavirus measurements. This MA thesis strives to fill in the lacuna from both theoretical and empirical viewpoints. For the former aspect, the paper deconstructs the process of COVID-19 policymaking on the basis of “policy diffusion” theory by Berry and Berry (2006) and other complementary theories (i.e., “external shock”, “state capacity”, “diffusion of innovations” theories). Such a complex framework allowed the paper to unpack every element of “policy diffusion” theory and, thus, produce a more detailed description of principles within the decision-making procedure. The theory computed thirteen hypotheses, extrapolated on 185 countries in the sample, which were tested in a large-N quantitative empirical analysis via the visualisations, correlations, the OLS regressions, and Bayesian Network methods. The analysis results are the following: the salience of the coronavirus crisis (number of cases/deaths; Cases Per Capita; Case Fatality Rate) is the primary explanatory variable for the high level of stringency embedded in the policy response. At the same time, as specified in the literature, the autocracies do apply more stringent policies; the malfunctioning accountability mechanism might explain this. What is more vital in terms of policy recommendations is that sufficient healthcare capacities (i.e., the number of hospital beds and healthcare expenditures) might mitigate the side-effects of the coronavirus, thus states introduce more lenient anti-COVID-19 policies. Additionally, the population density, institutional trust, and state’s economic support have a positive association with the stringency. Apart from testing the connections between the variables, the paper has also left some clues for the following research, for instance, there is a regional pattern in terms of COVID-19 responses: some regional units might be more stringent than others.
Punishing voters, accountability, and congruence
(Tartu Ülikool, 2021) Jain, Anurag; Talving, Liisa, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
When voters ‘punish’ the incumbents, does it affect the ideological congruence between incumbent parties and their voters? This study is an examination of an underlying tension between democratic values of representation and accountability that elections are normatively expected to serve in a democracy. I examine this tension through the concept of ‘punishing voters’. Punishing voters are conceptualized as the subset of the electorate who have previously voted for the incumbents, and switch their votes later based on economic evaluations. Using the data for 35 countries between 2011–2016 from the fourth round of Comparative Study of Electoral Systems, I examine the hypothesis that ideological congruence between incumbent parties and their voters increases with rise in economic voting. This study is socially important as it implies that voters are forced to choose between retrospective evaluations and ideological congruence. The consequences of this argument are important for understanding the crises of democracies in the context of competing normative values that elections serve.
The impact of Cypriot discourses of collective trauma and victimhood on the peace process
(Tartu Ülikool, 2021) Sikharulidze, Giorgi; Vits, Kristel, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
The anti-vaccination movement: framing on Latvian language Facebook
(Tartu Ülikool, 2020) McGilvray, Wioletta Katarzyna; Uba, Katrin, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
Anti-vaccination movements promote vaccine hesitancy, a significant global threat to public health. In Latvia vaccine hesitancy is of great concern with fears being raised on maintaining vaccination rates at the level needed for herd immunity. It is therefore crucial to understand the anti-vaccination movement, and the concerns of its members, in Latvia, to inform efforts to combat vaccine hesitancy. This thesis uses digital ethnography and frame analysis to study a Latvian anti-vaccination movement Facebook page. The aim was to understand how the arguments of the movement are framed, and compares these with framing identified in other studies, in order to identify if there are any local specificities to the Latvian case. It is found that though the framing is broadly similar there is a greater emphasis on the lack of trust the movement have in the medical system and state in Latvia. This framing also elicits a greater response from those who engage with the movement. This study can be used to inform public health campaigns in Latvia, especially in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. This study also shows the potential for frame analysis and social media studies as a means of researching the anti-vaccination movement.
The effects of state support on NGO sustainability in Azerbaijan
(Tartu Ülikool, 2020) Ahmadov, Tokay; Uba, Katrin, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
Sustainable NGOs fill the gap left by national governments in society. They address social problems that the state cannot, foster dialogue and cooperation among citizens and of the citizens with the state, and boost bridging social capital necessary for social development. For achieving social mission, NGOs may enjoy either negligible or greater state support. In both cases, however, NGOs get affected by states that seek to reach their constituencies. In this sense, states shape sustainability of civil society organizations through legal environment and financial support. This thesis investigated the effects of state support on local NGOs in Azerbaijan. It hypothesized that local NGOs are prone to be less sustainable since the NGO laws are not enough favorable in this country. The study results supported the hypothesis but further clarified the condition. The research found out that among some other minor NGO operational impediments imposed by the state, the legal environment hinders broader diversification of sources of NGO income and makes state financial support be the main source in town. Therefore, the state financial support itself does not impede sustainability of local NGOs. Although 6 out of 8 studied local NGOs are in good standing, the current legal environment limits NGOs’ opportunity to ensure their greater financial sustainability in society. Such a condition leads to deterioration of sustainability of local NGOs in general.
Do parties and voters reward parliamentary behavior? Evidence from Estonia
(Tartu Ülikool, 2020) Lupacheva, Tatiana; Mölder, Martin, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
While a wide range of literature has discussed how institutional incentives account for variation in parliamentary behavior of members of parliament (MPs), what is less clear is to what extent the behavioral strategies are eventually effective for goal-seeking purposes. The thesis addresses this puzzle by examining electoral consequences of parliamentary behavior of legislators. Specifically, it looks at whether the level of parliamentary activism of MPs affects their consequent performance at candidate nomination process, defined as running for the same party and as ranking on party lists, and at electoral stage, defined as personal vote and as gaining legislative seat. Statistical analysis is applied to the data from the 2015 and 2019 legislative elections and preceding parliamentary terms in the Republic of Estonia. The empirical results show that parties and voters reward more active behavior, although the extent varies across the types of parliamentary activities and the two examined elections. These signs of parties’ and voters’ retrospective evaluation of parliamentary work have implications for understanding the mechanisms of delegation and accountability in representative democracies.
Limits and opportunities of the EU conditionality policy in the area of anti-corruption: the case of visa liberalization in Ukraine
(Tartu Ülikool, 2020) Cherchatyi, Pavlo; Muhhina, Kristina, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
The thesis explores the limits as well as the opportunities the EU conditionality policy has beyond the legal borders of the Union. To attain the research objective, the research zeroes in on Visa Liberalization Action Plan in Ukraine and sets out to apply three theoretical assumptions identified in the scholarship on conditionality critique: (1) rule adoption versus rule application, (2) domestic costs as well as (3) EU’s own strategy. By constructing the conceptual framework around these three dimensions the thesis aims at eliciting the limits in the case of Ukraine, but not limited to identifying other limits. The ways how to improve the conditionality policy constitutes the second objective of the research. In terms of data collection, the research has conducted five interviews with experts in the field of EU conditionality and anti-corruption. In order to ensure the validity, the thesis used the “triangulation method”. Therefore, document-analysis was used to complement the main finding of the research. With regard to results, the research has identified that low rule application within the first dimension has multiple reasons: insufficient operationalization of conditions, non-holistic approach, and the EU’s own tolerance to unfulfilled conditions as well as only formal compliance by elites that does not presuppose effective application of the rule. With regard to the second theoretical expectation, the research has revealed that local resilience is a serious factor that limits the conditionality policy. “Vested interests” was found as a pivotal factor in this respect. Lastly, EU’s strategy is not sustainable and since there is no clear vision on how the EU should proceed after the conditionality is completed, the EU loses leverage over structural anti-corruption reforms, which raises the questions of effectiveness and sustainability of such policy more generally. With regard to opportunities, the EU should follow the improvements of both operational as well as strategic levels. Therefore, better precision of condition is needed, better decision-making, concrete and realistic benefits from the EU, more complementarity within conditions as well as more bottom-up approach should be enacted.
Shifting fortunes: anti-establishment reform parties, the catch-all strategy and the territorial cleavage in Ukraine
(Tartu Ülikool, 2020) Kuchynskyi, Oleksandr; Mölder, Martin, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
This project is intended to examine the how can the impact of an electoral cleavage can be reduced in the absence of changes in its socio-structural element as well as in other factors related to electoral competition using the example of the parliamentary elections in Ukraine. The thesis aims to examine the relationship between the use of a catch-all electoral strategy by anti-establishment reform parties and the importance of territorial cleavage in Ukraine during the parliamentary elections in Ukraine in 2014 and 2019. The most influential parties and presidential candidates heavily relied on the territorial cleavage, which led to the fact that no party or presidential candidate could win the elections in all the regions of Ukraine between 1991 and 2014. In 2019, Servant of People party managed to win the elections in almost the whole country despite opposite orientations of inhabitants of different regions regarding cleavage-related issues. At the same time, in 2014, when the cleavage itself profoundly transformed due to the fact of Russian military aggression, no party could win the elections countrywide which suggests that the explanatory variable is the change of electoral strategy. It is an MSSD comparative study between the parliamentary elections in 2014 and 2019, in which the following factors are held constant: the territory controlled by Ukraine, social conditions for the cleavage, electoral system, temporal distance between the parliamentary and presidential elections, level of distrust to political parties. To test the hypothesis, content analysis of party manifestos and TV ads of parties that got into parliament of Ukraine in 2014 and 2019 was carried out. The results only partly support the hypothesis proposed since only one out of three AERPs managed to win the elections by using the catch-all strategy. The study also reveals the importance of the participation in the presidential elections preceding the parliamentary one and the evenness of political resources between different regions of Ukraine to win the elections for AERPs. According to the expectations, mainstream parties using a catch-all strategy did not manage to win the elections.
Transitional justice in multiple transitions: case study of Croatia
(Tartu Ülikool, 2020) Kuljiš, Marul; Pettai, Vello, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
The aim of this thesis is to establish a novel framework in the study of transitional justice. It is concerned with cases where there are more transitions that happen in the same country. So far, these cases have mostly been studied in part, without looking at the whole process. They should be studied with all the possible transitions and transitional justice contexts looked at side by side, and with a model which allows a comparison along the same conceptual lines. Some possible ways multiple transitions could influence transitional justice are laid out. They could hinder the process by working against each other and not allowing the state to adequately process any of them. Some contexts could also be ignored because of the continuity in the political elite that exists between those contexts and the democratic regime. Or, one context could take over the whole process and not allow the other contexts to be adequately processed. Another phenomenon that could occur is the mixing of different contexts in the process of transitional justice, which can be observed when single policies are used to deal with issues from distinct contexts. This new framework is then applied to a case study of transitional justice in Croatia, which experienced post-communist, post-authoritarian and post-conflict transitional justice. Measures relating to the three contexts are presented, and categorized according to their aim and type. Measures can be aimed at either perpetrators or victims of crimes, and they can be criminal-judicial, political-administrative or symbolic-representational in nature. In the post-communist context, they can also be distinguished according to the period they are meant to tackle. The patterns across the contexts are then compared and contrasted. It is found that the most important factors which determine transitional justice are the degree of continuity of the political elite and the existence of external pressure to undertake transitional justice. Enough connections between the contexts were arguably found to justify the separate conceptualization of transitional justice in multiple transitions.
Analysis of two models of secondary education delivery and their impact on Roma integration in Slovakia
(Tartu Ülikool, 2020) Lencsésová, Klaudia; Muhhina, Kristina, juhendaja; Petsinis, Vassilis, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
The submitted research project is focused on the analysis of two models of secondary education delivery and their impact on socio-cultural integration of Roma students in Slovakia. To improve the educational situation of Roma minority in Slovakia, several measures and strategies have been implemented by public authorities. The most current national strategy is based on the establishment of so-called elocated branches of public secondary schools that are detached schools situated near marginalized Roma communities. Their aim is to make an easier access to secondary education for Roma students as they are located in the place of Roma residence. However, along with a publicly-led model of secondary education delivery, several private providers have also decided to improve the educational situation of Roma minority. These private providers have set up private secondary schools, which call for the creation of a more inclusive curriculum and learning process compared to mainstream secondary schools. The main aim of this research is to compare and contrast how these two models of secondary education delivery impact on Roma socio-cultural integration as this aspect has not been analysed yet. The study contributes to fill the research gap in understanding of how two different secondary education delivery models, which have been established with the aim to educate Roma, influence their social and cultural integration within the learning process and a broader social community as well. Additionally, the research findings may have useful applications in other countries facing the similar educational issues related to Roma minority.
Service provision by international non-governmental organizations in areas of limited statehood. An examination INGOs’ impact on sustainability in education provision in the Kingdom of Cambodia
(Tartu Ülikool, 2020) Schmitz, Jasmin; Muhhina, Kristina, juhendaja; Pagan, Hector, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
This thesis illuminates the diversity of INGOs’ behaviour as service providers. The study captures how different types of behaviour, working modes, impact the production of sustainability. The author outlines in this thesis how different behavioural approaches interact with the three identified dimensions of sustainability in the field of education provision. Further, the research was set in an area of limited statehood (ALS) as these are characterized by the lack of governmental oversight and regulation, which amplifies the need to understand how public services are being provided to beneficiaries; this thesis is set in the Kingdom of Cambodia’s education sector. In order to achieve this insight into INGOs as service providers in an ALS, qualitative methods were applied, and interview-based research was conducted. The researcher interviewed 18 individuals associated with 10 organizations during her fieldwork in Cambodia. Through the Dora Plus short-term mobility stipend, granted by the Archimedes Foundation and the European Union Regional Development Fund, the researcher was able to travel to Cambodia to conduct fieldwork. Through fieldwork, the researcher was able to gain knowledge of the context in with the education provision is taking place and is therefore able to produce case-specific results. The results are not only defined through highlighting the working modes’ effect on sustainability production, but through the creation of a nuanced understanding of INGOs’ behaviour. This research project was able to underline the differences in INGOs’ behaviour and outline why these differences matter to the service provision.
Political party interest in having members: explaining the different party membership levels in Estonia and Latvia
(Tartu Ülikool, 2020) Briede, Ieva; Pettai, Vello, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
This thesis provides a demand-side explanation on why Estonia and Latvia - countries of similar contemporary historical trajectories and the emerging party systems - have substantially different results in party membership levels. The study is built on an assumption that parties in Estonia are more interested in having members than parties in Latvia, with the intent to determine a relationship between the interest in having members and the party membership level in a country. To ascertain interest in having members, a novel index is created. Not only the total results of countries are compared, a lower-level analysis in three dimensions across parties in the two countries is provided. Both country parliamentary parties are studied, providing a thorough analysis and comparisons of 14 political parties. Findings depict that the level of party membership is higher in Estonia because parties are more interested in having members than parties in Latvia. Crucial differences in approaches to member recruitment are identified.
Should the guardians be independent? Electoral management bodies and electoral integrity
(Tartu Ülikool, 2020) Mirovednikova, Anastasiia; Mölder, Martin, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
Fair elections are fundamental for democratic governance, they are the result of a complex process, the implementation of which requires the application and responsible execution of all procedures at all stages of the electoral cycle. In many non-democratic countries, the falsification of voting results is carried out regularly. Election results can also be rigged in democracies, which casts doubt on the legitimacy of the entire electoral process and democracy in general. The electoral administration is directly responsible for the development and implementation of electoral procedures to hold legitimate elections recognized by international society. This thesis studies the electoral management bodies (EMBs) and their models and aims to reveal the relationship between the institutional characteristics of election commissions and electoral integrity. Based on the previous research, this study assumes that the establishment of independent election commissions contributes to improving the quality of elections in non-democratic countries, while in democracies the choice of an institutional model is not expected to be important. Data used in the study comes from Intentional IDEA and ACE Electoral Project, Perceptions of Electoral Integrity Project, and local EMBs' websites. Findings indicate that the institutional type of EMBs cannot predict the quality of elections. However, in the analysis of interactions, the variable of party participation in EMBs turned out to be significant.
When social movements function as democratization forces: the radical democratic perspective on the role of social movements in Georgia 2012-2018
(Tartu Ülikool, 2020) Dadunadze, Davit; Uba, Katrin, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
The determinants of legislative speechmaking on salient issues: the analysis of parliamentary debates on Theresa May’s Brexit withdrawal agreement using structural topic models
(Tartu Ülikool, 2020) Goriunov, Artem; Mölder, Martin, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut

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