Citizen Electoral Alliances in Estonia: Citizen Democracy versus Cartel Parties

Abstract

Following an initial heyday in the early 1990’s, when local lists — known as citizen electoral alliances (CEA’s) — almost dominated local elections in Estonia, such formations have since become a much reduced force, having been slowly pushed out by an increasingly cartelised party system. Although a series of legal attempts between 2002 through 2005 to actually ban CEA’s ultimately failed — due to an Estonian Supreme Court decision re-asserting the right of these associations to exist and contest local elections — the accompanying uncertainty caused many citizen alliances to weaken or fade, as their most active members were enticed to join established political parties, who claimed to offer better access to resources and influence. In this respect, Estonia exemplifies a reverse trend from Western Europe (see other chapters in this volume). Although popular trust in politicians is low, we have not seen an upsurge of citizen politics. Over time, established political parties narrowed institutional frameworks, therefore, greatly diminishing the attractiveness or feasibility of such an alternative.