Meteoric trajectory: The Res Publica party in Estonia

Democratization

Volumn 13, Issue 1, 2006, Pages 78-94

  Taagepera, Rein ^a,b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF TARTU   (Estonia)

Author keywords

Estonia; New parties; Res Publica; Rightist politics

Indexed keywords

POLITICAL HISTORY; POLITICS;

BALTIC STATES; ESTONIA; EURASIA; EUROPE; NORTHERN EUROPE;

EID: 30944438879     PISSN: 13510347     EISSN: 1743890X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/13510340500378274     Document Type: Review

References (33)

1. Bernard Grofman, Evald Mikkel and Rein Taagepera, 'Fission and Fusion of Parties in Estonia, 1987-1999', Journal of Baltic Studies, Vol. 31, No. 4 (2000), pp. 329-57.
2. I have lived outside Estonia since 1944 and in the United States since 1961. Since 1992, I have spent close to half my time in Estonia, teaching at the University of Tartu. In 1992, I ran a respectable third in presidential elections, as candidate of what is now the Centre Party - see Rein Taagepera, 'Running for President of Estonia', PS: Political Science & Politics, Vol. 26, No. 2 (1993), pp. 302-4. As the Centre Party became increasingly leader-centred, I left in 1994 and remained unaffiliated with any party until 2001.
3. See, for example, Rein Taagepera and Matthew S. Shugart, Seats and Votes: The Effects and Determinants of Electoral Systems (New Haven, CT and London: Yale University Press, 1989) and 'Predicting the Number of Parties: A Quantitative Model of Duverger's Mechanical Effect', American Political Science Review, Vol. 87, No. (1993), pp. 455-64;
4. and Rein Taagepera, 'How Electoral Systems Matter for Democratization', Democratization, Vol. 5, No. 3 (1998), pp. 68-91.
5. An early version of this study was presented at the European Consortium of Political Research 2004 Joint Sessions of Workshops, 13-18 April, Uppsala Universitet.
6. For a baseline, published just as the newly restored state was admitted to the United Nations, see Rein Taagepera, 'Building Democracy in Estonia', PS: Political Science & Politics, Vol. 24, No. 3 (1991), pp. 478-81.
7. Wayne Sandholtz and Rein Taagepera, 'Corruption, Culture, and Communism', International Review of Sociology, Vol. 15, No. 1 (2005), pp. 109-31.
8. Rein Taagepera, 'Baltic Values and Corruption in Comparative Context', Journal of Baltic Studies, Vol. 33, No. 3 (2002), pp. 243-58.
9. Ronald Inglehart, Miguel Bazañez, Jaime Diez-Medrano, Loek Haman and Ruud Luijkx (eds), Human Beliefs and Values: A Cross-Cultural Sourcebook Based on The 1999-2002 Values Surveys (Mexico: Siglo Ventiuno Editores, 2004), p. 12.
10. Rein Taagepera, Võta võim! [Empower yourself ] (Tallinn: K-Kirjastus, 2001). Table of Contents and Introduction available in English.
11. i is the vote or seat share of the i-th party.
12. All Res Publica members of parliament were novices. Only a few had administrative or local government experience. There were several pop culture figures, communal leaders and physicians, an AIDS prevention activist and one political science dotsent.
13. Ken-Marti Vaher had been on the staff of state controller Juhan Parts. Taavi Veskimägi had been employed at the Ministry of Finance and was elected in October 2002 to a small town council. Indrek Raudne had been on the Tallinn city council. Urmas Reinsalu had been the chief of staff of the previous President of the Republic, Lennart Meri.
14. Paul Lucardie, 'Prophets, Purifiers and Prolocutors: Toward A Theory of The Emergence of New Parties', Party Politics, Vol. 6, No. 2 (2000), pp. 175-85.
15. Allan Sikk, 'How Unstable? Volatility and The Genuinely New Parties in Eastern Europe', European Journal of Political Research, Vol. 44, No. 4 (2005), pp. 391-412.
16. Marcus A. G. Harper, 'The 2001 Parliamentary and Presidential Elections in Bulgaria', Electoral Studies, Vol. 22, No. 2 (2003), pp. 335-44.
17. Lucardie, note 13, pp. 175-85.
18. Thomas Rochon, 'Mobilizers and Challengers: Toward A Theory of New Party Success', International Political Science Review, Vol. 6, No. 4 (1985), pp. 419-39.
19. Harper, note 15, pp. 335-44.
20. Lucardie, note 13, pp. 175-85.
21. See Lucardie, note 13, pp. 175-85.
22. Lars Bille, 'Democratizing and Democratic Procedure: Myth or Reality? Candidate Selection in Western European Parties, 1960-1990', Party Politics, Vol. 7, No. 3 (2001), pp. 363-80, especially Table 1.
23. Lawrence LeDuc, 'Democratizing Party Leadership Selection', Party Politics, Vol. 7, No. 3 (2001), pp. 323-14;
24. Richard S. Katz, 'The Problem of Candidate Selection and Models of Party Democracy', Party Politics, Vol. 7, No. 3 (2001), pp. 277-96;
25. Jonathan Hopkin, 'Bringing The Members Back In?', ibid. (2001), pp. 343-61.
26. By November 2003, the People's Union came to feel that the Reform Party priorities consistently overrode theirs - and even some goals they had in common with Res Publica, such as increasing the tax-free part of personal income. Faced with a brusque ultimatum Parts eventually gave in, and the Reform Party reluctantly agreed to delay its pet project of reducing the flat tax on the taxable portion of income to 20 per cent. Ironically, the revolt by the People's Union brought the main tenor of the coalition closer to Res Publica's own programme of increasing the tax-free part of personal income.
27. Two months before the elections, I told one of the Incorruptible Ones that I intended to vote for the Social Democrats as the closest approximation to what Res Publica's centrist programme had promised. He took it as a joke; but it turned out that I had plenty of company.
28. At the party assembly held two weeks after the Euroelections, I proposed a declaration of solidarity with all centrist forces, explicitly including the Social Democrats. In response, Taavi Veskimägi and Indrek Raudne claimed there was no such thing as a centre left position, all leftists being extremists. My motion was not put to the vote.
29. Grofman, Mikkel and Taagepera (note 1), pp. 329-57.
30. Olari Taal, the party's financial godfather, did acknowledge that 'Professor Taagepera was right when he warned us that it would be extremely dangerous for us if we win too many seats in the parliament and join the government' (Eesti Päevaleht, 17 September 2004). He did not go into specifics.
31. Sikk (note 14), pp. 391-412.
32. Lucardie (note 13), pp. 175-85.
33. While Res Publica and Latvia's New Way had to hold together coalition cabinets, Simeon's party had the advantage of controlling 50 per cent of the seats in the parliament. But, recast as the Liberal Party, it was also able to preserve a credible presence at the next elections (25 June 2005), maintaining close to one-half of its previous votes (20 per cent compared to 43). It remained the second largest party, behind the Socialists, who received 31 per cent.