Ethnic relations, elites and democracy in the Baltic States

Abstract

Among democratic transitions in post‐communist states the three Baltic states have attracted special interest because of their Russophone populations and how this group has been integrated into the political system. Ethnic structure not only determines institutional outcomes, but it also has important consequences for cohesion among the indigenous elite and how leaders and masses perceive possibilities for conflicts between ethnic groups. Fear of others and negative orientations are in turn becoming important elements for preserving exclusory forms of democracy. Curiously, elite integration and sceptical attitudes are not most prominent in Latvia, which has the largest proportion of Russophones, but in Estonia where their share is considerably lower than in Latvia. Certain structural, historical and cultural peculiarities must be adduced in order to explain the special Estonian case of ethnic accommodation.