Between Past and Future: Elites, Democracy and the State in Post-Communist Countries: A Comparison of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

by Anton Steen

Overview

Published in 1997, this text presents a specific interest in analyzing the role of the elites as a key factor for democratic rule and policy changes. In order to put the elites in perspective the author has also conducted opinion surveys asking some of the same questions among representative samples of the populations in the three countries. Comparing these three rather similar states gives possibilities for singling out conditions for specific national developments in elite structure and policies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367197018
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/30/2021
Series:	Routledge Revivals
Pages:	410
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Contents. Tables. Figures. Preface. 1. From totalitarianism to democracy: The role of the elites. 2. Data and Methods. Part One: Continuity and change. 3. Recirculation or renewal of elites? 4. The social biography of the new elites. 5. Elite personality and the democratic mind. 6. The problem of the past: Punish or forget? Part Two: Elite networks. 7. Contacts between institutions. 8. Core elite persons. 9. Kinship relations. Conclusions to Part Two. 10. The elites and the political parties. Part Three: Elite and mass cleavages. 11. Trust between elites. 12. Opening the ‘steam boiler’: Social and ethnic cleavages. Conclusions to Part Three: Social cleavages and elite integration. Part Four: The elites and the people: The problem of legitimacy. 13. Political support. 14. The problem of representation. Conclusions to Part Four. Part Five: Values and policy priorities. 15. Basic Values: Equality and state interference. 16. Ideological polarization or unification? 17. Policy priorities and policy instruments. Conclusions to Part Five. 18. Policy outcomes: Is the state withering away. 19. The elite network state. Appendix Tables. References.