Tõnis Saarts - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Tõnis Saarts
Acta politica, May 22, 2024
Routledge eBooks, Jan 18, 2022
Journal of Baltic Studies, Dec 28, 2022
Problems of Post-Communism, Apr 28, 2021
Post-communist democracies have been notorious for their under-institutionalized party systems an... more Post-communist democracies have been notorious for their under-institutionalized party systems and unstable governments. However, two exceptional cases stand out in the region: Liberal Democracy of Slovenia (LDS) ruled the country for 12 years uninterrupted, and the Estonian Reform Party (RE) was in government for an unbroken 17 years. The article explores the factors that contributed to the success of both parties. The results show that long-term governmental parties may emerge under the conditions of proportional representation (PR) electoral systems and in fragmented and less-institutionalized party systems, if those parties use clever coalition strategies, introduce a politico-ideological hegemony, and rely on their own internal resources in which leadership or organizational capacities are crucial.
Coalition Politics in Central Eastern Europe
European politics and society, Dec 16, 2020
ABSTRACT There is a theoretical assumption that post-communist cofmanifesuntries would follow the... more ABSTRACT There is a theoretical assumption that post-communist cofmanifesuntries would follow the Lipset and Rokkan’s seminal model regarding electoral cleavages and thus class cleavage would become dominant in those countries as in the West. In this respect the post-communist Estonia is considered an interesting case. On the one hand, there are many enabling preconditions which should promote the class cleavage (e.g. the level of socio-economic development, high social inequality). But on the other hand, a large Russian-speaking minority resides in the country. Nevertheless, the article poses a hypothesis that class cleavage has become more pronounced during the recent decade. The current analysis applies quantitative research methodology while using the data from the Estonian National Election Studies. The results of the analysis show that the ethnic cleavage persistently overshadows the class cleavage and the trend has become even more accentuated during the recent decade. The authors briefly consider alternative explanations for the dominance of ethnic cleavage. They claim that Estonia could be regarded as a critical case because if the class cleavage is not about to rise in one of the most advanced democracies in CEE, it allows the raising of broader questions about the future of class politics.
Although Mann never considered himself a relational sociologist, other scholars have seen seeds o... more Although Mann never considered himself a relational sociologist, other scholars have seen seeds of relationalism in his works. Nevertheless, there have not been any systematic treatments of Mann’s work from the viewpoint of relational sociology. This is exactly the gap we set out to fill in this chapter. Given our space limitations, we have to restrict our task to Mann’s work on power as it unfolds in his four-volume The Sources of Social Power, since this is probably the most lasting of his achievements. We take our lead from a metalanguage of Dewey and Bentley for conceptualizing “relational sociology” by distinguishing between self-action, inter-action, and trans-action as alternative forms of conceptualizing social action, of which it is the last (i.e. trans-action) that has been considered to be characteristic of “deep” relational thinking. The major argument of the chapter is that if one reads Mann’s approach to power from a synchronic perspective it does not correspond very much to the canons of “deep” relational sociology and his depiction of power relations is clearly self-actionalist and inter-actionalist. But if one assumes a diachronic perspective, Mann appears to be engaged in a more trans-actionalist sociology.
Politics and Governance, Nov 24, 2021
East European Politics, Apr 3, 2015
The article explores the factors contributing to the decline and persistence of the political par... more The article explores the factors contributing to the decline and persistence of the political parties in Estonia, while proposing a more systematic framework for tackling the problem. The case study is focused on three Estonian parties (Res Publica, People's Union, and the Centre Party). The article puts forward an empirical framework in which three central dimensions are explored: (1) system-level variables; (2) external-dynamic variables; and (3) internal-organisational-level variables. The results of the analysis indicate that the quality of party leadership and the parties’ attachment with the major cleavages in a given society are crucial factors in explaining the parties’ persistence or demise.
Der Donauraum, Jan 28, 2016
Civil society can fulfil many functions and even contribute to opposing goals in the process of c... more Civil society can fulfil many functions and even contribute to opposing goals in the process of consolidating democracy. For instance, while in the Lockean tradition civil society is an important ally to the state in facilitating a regime, the post-Marxist tradition depicts civil society more as an opponent to the regime, questioning its hegemony and legitimacy and often viewed even as undermining it (Hyden 1997). Such a contradiction is sure to arise as soon as debates begin over participatory democracy in general and the engagement of NGOs in decision-making processes; in less advanced democracies, it may even create conflicts. Yet in essence, a vibrant, pluralist and active civil society is a key factor in the definition of a consolidated democracy. In this article, we are looking at the central arena where the contestations over the role of civil society in decision-making and running the political system are bound to be unveiled – the process of civic engagement. By civic engagement, we understand non-governmental actors being successfully and substantially involved in the decision-making process both with respect to the public policy-making process as well as the willingness and capability of such non-governmental actors, who are potentially affected by the decision in question (Gerston 2014). Civic engagement is a concept that overlaps considerably with several others, such as public engagement, inclusive decision-making, participatory decision-making, advocacy, etc. The choice of this particular concept was triggered by the goal of the article – we aim not to look solely at whether the decision-making process is open to all parties involved (as in public engagement) nor only at the methods of inclusion (as in inclusive decision-making), but also at the element of civic initiative in the process. As regards a second aspect, we do not aim to solely cover the methods and means NGOs use to affect the decision-makDER DONAURAUM
Regional & Federal Studies, Mar 27, 2019
Comparative Migration Studies, Aug 12, 2021
Studies of Transition States and Societies, Nov 1, 2011
Routledge eBooks, Mar 31, 2023
European Societies, Feb 7, 2014
The book by Zenonas Norkus is highly welcome for at least three reasons. First, it offers a broad... more The book by Zenonas Norkus is highly welcome for at least three reasons. First, it offers a broad interdisciplinary picture, combining economic and political perspectives on the post-communist transition. Secondly, it puts forward many theoretical innovations and new concepts, while explaining divergent post-communist pathways in a non-teleological manner. Thirdly, it manages to avoid the so-called ‘Visegrad bias’: the book is focused on transition in lesser-discussed smaller post-communist countries like the Baltic States (particularly Lithuania) and Slovenia. The major novel theoretical contributions are made in the first half of the book analyzing the various types of communist legacies, nature of transition, its major drivers and multiple outcomes both in economical and political terms. The author makes use of a heuristic concept, ‘orientations of transformation’ in his book. Norkus distinguishes between: continuational orientation (e.g., Belarus), mimetic orientation (to be like the West – e.g., the Visegrad countries, and later the Baltic states), restitutional orientation (the restoration of the society of the pre-communist period – e.g., the Baltic states in the early 1990s) and innovative orientation (to find its own novel ways – only Slovenia adopted that orientation). Although the orientation of transformation has not been a genuinely novel idea, it proves to be a useful analytical tool for the holistic explanation of the divergent post-communist pathways. The book casts light on an astonishing diversity of the post-communist economies. The author relies on the theory of varieties of capitalism developed by Hall and Soskice (2001). The major argument is that while capitalism in a majority of the new EU member states in CEE can meet the criteria of Western rational entrepreneurial capitalism (REC), the economies in these countries are still substantially less developed than in the West and do not belong to the capitalist core of the world economy. Because of their semi-peripheral position the economies in CEE could be classified as dependent market economies (DME; Nölke and Vliegenthart 2009), with their own varieties: Anglo-American style capitalism in its less BOOK REVIEW ESSAYS EUROPEAN SOCIETIES
PLURAL. History, Culture, Society
Estonia is often seen as a model student among the post-communist countries. Many renowned think ... more Estonia is often seen as a model student among the post-communist countries. Many renowned think tanks and organizations measuring the quality of democracy (e.g., Freedom House, Varieties of Democracy, Bertelsmann Foundation) often give Estonia the highest scores in the region. However, the seemingly spotless façade hides growing tensions and emergent contradictions. The current paper will focus on the two most worrisome trends that have become evident in recent years, if not even earlier: (1) the limited success in integrating the large Russian-speaking minority and (2) the rise of the populist radical right. The failure to integrate the ethnic minorities would increase frustration and political alienation among Russian speakers, making it more difficult to build a healthy, cohesive democratic community. However, the rise of the populist radical right, namely the remarkable electoral success of EKRE (Estonian Conservative People’s Party), has proven to be a bigger challenge because...
Routledge eBooks, Feb 24, 2020
Routledge eBooks, Mar 31, 2023
Journal of Baltic Studies
Acta politica, May 22, 2024
Routledge eBooks, Jan 18, 2022
Journal of Baltic Studies, Dec 28, 2022
Problems of Post-Communism, Apr 28, 2021
Post-communist democracies have been notorious for their under-institutionalized party systems an... more Post-communist democracies have been notorious for their under-institutionalized party systems and unstable governments. However, two exceptional cases stand out in the region: Liberal Democracy of Slovenia (LDS) ruled the country for 12 years uninterrupted, and the Estonian Reform Party (RE) was in government for an unbroken 17 years. The article explores the factors that contributed to the success of both parties. The results show that long-term governmental parties may emerge under the conditions of proportional representation (PR) electoral systems and in fragmented and less-institutionalized party systems, if those parties use clever coalition strategies, introduce a politico-ideological hegemony, and rely on their own internal resources in which leadership or organizational capacities are crucial.
Coalition Politics in Central Eastern Europe
European politics and society, Dec 16, 2020
ABSTRACT There is a theoretical assumption that post-communist cofmanifesuntries would follow the... more ABSTRACT There is a theoretical assumption that post-communist cofmanifesuntries would follow the Lipset and Rokkan’s seminal model regarding electoral cleavages and thus class cleavage would become dominant in those countries as in the West. In this respect the post-communist Estonia is considered an interesting case. On the one hand, there are many enabling preconditions which should promote the class cleavage (e.g. the level of socio-economic development, high social inequality). But on the other hand, a large Russian-speaking minority resides in the country. Nevertheless, the article poses a hypothesis that class cleavage has become more pronounced during the recent decade. The current analysis applies quantitative research methodology while using the data from the Estonian National Election Studies. The results of the analysis show that the ethnic cleavage persistently overshadows the class cleavage and the trend has become even more accentuated during the recent decade. The authors briefly consider alternative explanations for the dominance of ethnic cleavage. They claim that Estonia could be regarded as a critical case because if the class cleavage is not about to rise in one of the most advanced democracies in CEE, it allows the raising of broader questions about the future of class politics.
Although Mann never considered himself a relational sociologist, other scholars have seen seeds o... more Although Mann never considered himself a relational sociologist, other scholars have seen seeds of relationalism in his works. Nevertheless, there have not been any systematic treatments of Mann’s work from the viewpoint of relational sociology. This is exactly the gap we set out to fill in this chapter. Given our space limitations, we have to restrict our task to Mann’s work on power as it unfolds in his four-volume The Sources of Social Power, since this is probably the most lasting of his achievements. We take our lead from a metalanguage of Dewey and Bentley for conceptualizing “relational sociology” by distinguishing between self-action, inter-action, and trans-action as alternative forms of conceptualizing social action, of which it is the last (i.e. trans-action) that has been considered to be characteristic of “deep” relational thinking. The major argument of the chapter is that if one reads Mann’s approach to power from a synchronic perspective it does not correspond very much to the canons of “deep” relational sociology and his depiction of power relations is clearly self-actionalist and inter-actionalist. But if one assumes a diachronic perspective, Mann appears to be engaged in a more trans-actionalist sociology.
Politics and Governance, Nov 24, 2021
East European Politics, Apr 3, 2015
The article explores the factors contributing to the decline and persistence of the political par... more The article explores the factors contributing to the decline and persistence of the political parties in Estonia, while proposing a more systematic framework for tackling the problem. The case study is focused on three Estonian parties (Res Publica, People's Union, and the Centre Party). The article puts forward an empirical framework in which three central dimensions are explored: (1) system-level variables; (2) external-dynamic variables; and (3) internal-organisational-level variables. The results of the analysis indicate that the quality of party leadership and the parties’ attachment with the major cleavages in a given society are crucial factors in explaining the parties’ persistence or demise.
Der Donauraum, Jan 28, 2016
Civil society can fulfil many functions and even contribute to opposing goals in the process of c... more Civil society can fulfil many functions and even contribute to opposing goals in the process of consolidating democracy. For instance, while in the Lockean tradition civil society is an important ally to the state in facilitating a regime, the post-Marxist tradition depicts civil society more as an opponent to the regime, questioning its hegemony and legitimacy and often viewed even as undermining it (Hyden 1997). Such a contradiction is sure to arise as soon as debates begin over participatory democracy in general and the engagement of NGOs in decision-making processes; in less advanced democracies, it may even create conflicts. Yet in essence, a vibrant, pluralist and active civil society is a key factor in the definition of a consolidated democracy. In this article, we are looking at the central arena where the contestations over the role of civil society in decision-making and running the political system are bound to be unveiled – the process of civic engagement. By civic engagement, we understand non-governmental actors being successfully and substantially involved in the decision-making process both with respect to the public policy-making process as well as the willingness and capability of such non-governmental actors, who are potentially affected by the decision in question (Gerston 2014). Civic engagement is a concept that overlaps considerably with several others, such as public engagement, inclusive decision-making, participatory decision-making, advocacy, etc. The choice of this particular concept was triggered by the goal of the article – we aim not to look solely at whether the decision-making process is open to all parties involved (as in public engagement) nor only at the methods of inclusion (as in inclusive decision-making), but also at the element of civic initiative in the process. As regards a second aspect, we do not aim to solely cover the methods and means NGOs use to affect the decision-makDER DONAURAUM
Regional & Federal Studies, Mar 27, 2019
Comparative Migration Studies, Aug 12, 2021
Studies of Transition States and Societies, Nov 1, 2011
Routledge eBooks, Mar 31, 2023
European Societies, Feb 7, 2014
The book by Zenonas Norkus is highly welcome for at least three reasons. First, it offers a broad... more The book by Zenonas Norkus is highly welcome for at least three reasons. First, it offers a broad interdisciplinary picture, combining economic and political perspectives on the post-communist transition. Secondly, it puts forward many theoretical innovations and new concepts, while explaining divergent post-communist pathways in a non-teleological manner. Thirdly, it manages to avoid the so-called ‘Visegrad bias’: the book is focused on transition in lesser-discussed smaller post-communist countries like the Baltic States (particularly Lithuania) and Slovenia. The major novel theoretical contributions are made in the first half of the book analyzing the various types of communist legacies, nature of transition, its major drivers and multiple outcomes both in economical and political terms. The author makes use of a heuristic concept, ‘orientations of transformation’ in his book. Norkus distinguishes between: continuational orientation (e.g., Belarus), mimetic orientation (to be like the West – e.g., the Visegrad countries, and later the Baltic states), restitutional orientation (the restoration of the society of the pre-communist period – e.g., the Baltic states in the early 1990s) and innovative orientation (to find its own novel ways – only Slovenia adopted that orientation). Although the orientation of transformation has not been a genuinely novel idea, it proves to be a useful analytical tool for the holistic explanation of the divergent post-communist pathways. The book casts light on an astonishing diversity of the post-communist economies. The author relies on the theory of varieties of capitalism developed by Hall and Soskice (2001). The major argument is that while capitalism in a majority of the new EU member states in CEE can meet the criteria of Western rational entrepreneurial capitalism (REC), the economies in these countries are still substantially less developed than in the West and do not belong to the capitalist core of the world economy. Because of their semi-peripheral position the economies in CEE could be classified as dependent market economies (DME; Nölke and Vliegenthart 2009), with their own varieties: Anglo-American style capitalism in its less BOOK REVIEW ESSAYS EUROPEAN SOCIETIES
PLURAL. History, Culture, Society
Estonia is often seen as a model student among the post-communist countries. Many renowned think ... more Estonia is often seen as a model student among the post-communist countries. Many renowned think tanks and organizations measuring the quality of democracy (e.g., Freedom House, Varieties of Democracy, Bertelsmann Foundation) often give Estonia the highest scores in the region. However, the seemingly spotless façade hides growing tensions and emergent contradictions. The current paper will focus on the two most worrisome trends that have become evident in recent years, if not even earlier: (1) the limited success in integrating the large Russian-speaking minority and (2) the rise of the populist radical right. The failure to integrate the ethnic minorities would increase frustration and political alienation among Russian speakers, making it more difficult to build a healthy, cohesive democratic community. However, the rise of the populist radical right, namely the remarkable electoral success of EKRE (Estonian Conservative People’s Party), has proven to be a bigger challenge because...
Routledge eBooks, Feb 24, 2020
Routledge eBooks, Mar 31, 2023
Journal of Baltic Studies
The Sociological Approach in Party System Analysis: The Baltic Sates in the Central and Eastern European Context, PhD thesis, 2017
The paper was seeking explanation for several exceptional features that made the Latvian and Esto... more The paper was seeking explanation for several exceptional features that made the Latvian and Estonian party politics stand apart from the CEE mainstream. These peculiar features were: (1) the marginalized position or virtual absence of communist successor-parties; (2) weakness of the left-wing parties (social democrats and socialists) and ideologically unbalanced party competition, in which the right-wing parties have assumed a very dominant position; (3) the cleavage
constellation in which ethnic cleavage is effectively merged with the communistanti-communist cleavage constituting a unique combination for CEE countries. It appeared that both the institutional and the party-system-centred approaches were insufficient to providing an adequate explanation to these peculiarities. Therefore
the remaining part of the study was focused on the sociological approach, more precisely on cleavages. The author turned to an elaborated theory proposed by Herbert Kitschelt which concentrated on the cleavage formation in the postcommunist party systems while linking it with the impact of communist regime legacies. The regime legacies and the history seem to be highly relevant for the
Baltic states, because their dramatic experiences with the Soviet rule and the profound demographic changes they witnessed at that time.