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The Political Elite Recruitment in the Baltic: the Role of the Ethnic Factor Smirnov, Vadim

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The Political Elite Recruitment in the Baltic: the Role of the Ethnic Factor Smirnov, Vadim www.ssoar.info The political elite recruitment in the Baltic: the role of the ethnic factor Smirnov, Vadim Veröffentlichungsversion / Published Version Zeitschriftenartikel / journal article Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Smirnov, V. (2013). The political elite recruitment in the Baltic: the role of the ethnic factor. Baltic Region, 4, 105-115. https://doi.org/10.5922/2079-8555-2013-4-10 Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Dieser Text wird unter einer Free Digital Peer Publishing Licence This document is made available under a Free Digital Peer zur Verfügung gestellt. Nähere Auskünfte zu den DiPP-Lizenzen Publishing Licence. For more Information see: finden Sie hier: http://www.dipp.nrw.de/lizenzen/dppl/service/dppl/ http://www.dipp.nrw.de/lizenzen/dppl/service/dppl/ Diese Version ist zitierbar unter / This version is citable under: https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-51240-4 V. Smirnov The role of the ethnic factor in political THE POLITICAL ELITE processes in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia has RECRUITMENT been rather significant since these countries gained independence. The author investigates IN THE BALTIC: the following assumption: after the completion of major Eurointegration pro¬cedures, the THE ROLE ethnic factor — which became especially im- OF THE ETHNIC FACTOR portant in the Baltics after independence — relegated to the periphery of political life. After a period of ‘independence-in- duced euphoria’ faded, Lithuanian, Latvian * and Estonian power groups had to tackle V. Smirnov the problem of civil society formation and the development of a political regime based on democratic procedures. In these coun- tries the processes of elite recruitment were largely affected by the factor of ethic ho- mogeneity of the social structure. This arti- cle analyses the process of elite group for- mation in the Baltics through the lens of the ethnic factor. By applying the ethnopoliti- cal approach, the author concludes that the de facto barriers to non-titular population groups entering power structures, which exist in Latvia and Estonia, ‘freeze’ the sys- tem of elite recruitment. In the conditions of increasing social unrest, it may have an adverse effect on the overall political sta- bility in these countries. The results obtained can be used for research, educational, and practical pur- poses. In the field of research and educa- tion, they can be employed in further re- search on the transformation of the elite structure in the Baltics in view of the eth- nopolitical factor, including comparative analysis of the elite re-grouping processes, as well as in developing corresponding university courses. As to the practical as- pect, the results obtained can be used by the authorities of the Russian Federation in making decisions regarding interaction with the representatives of Lithuanian, Lat- vian and Estonian political elites. * Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University Key words: elites, ethnic groups, 14, A. Nevski Str., power, recruitment, Baltics Kaliningrad, 236041, Russia Submitted on July 1, 2013 Different aspects of the involve- doi: 10.5922/2079-8555-2013-4-10 ment of ethnic groups into political © Smirnov V., 2013 processes have been actively discussed Baltic region. 2013. № 4 (18). P. 105—115. 105 Political elites in countries of the Baltic Sea region by political scientists over the last quarter century. As to the Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian republics, the role of ethnical factor in politics has been relevant since independence. But can one claim that, after the comple- tion of the main Euro integration procedures, the ethnic factor, to which ma- jor significance was attached earlier, was pushed towards the periphery of the political life? Different aspects of the involvement of ethnic groups into political processes have been actively discussed by political scientists over the last quarter century. As to the Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian repub- lics, the role of ethnical factor in politics has been relevant since independ- ence. But can one claim that, after the completion of the main Euro integra- tion procedures, the ethnic factor, to which major significance was attached earlier, was pushed towards the periphery of the political life? With the help of the ethnopolitical approach1, let us analyse the actual political interactions in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia paying special atten- tion to the features of political elite recruitment2. According to V. Tishkov, the disintegration of the USSR resembled a revolt of a province against the central power more than a politically and legally correct procedure of inde- pendence declaration. The political legitimacy was attached to this process by the ‘popular’ (more precisely, ehtnonationalistic) movements, in particu- lar, the popular fronts of the Baltics. It is they that developed the “ideology of disintegration”, whose elements were borrowed by nationalist movements other Union republics and autonomous areas in Russia. The replacement of the notion ‘nation’ with that of ‘ethnos’ played an important role in the ideo- logical justification of the imminent disintegration [7, с. 154]. After the euphoria caused by independence had faded, the power groups of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia faced the problems of developing a civil society and creating a political regime based on democratic procedures. In these coun- tries, the processes of elite recruitment have been affected by the ethnic homo- geneity of society. Data on the population composition of all three countries over the last 25 years is presented in Table 1. In Lithuania, the Lithuanian ethnic group constitutes the overwhelming majority; two other large groups are the Polish and Russians3. The population composition of the Lithuanian Republic did not undergo any significant changes over the Soviet period. According to the 1959 census, Lithuanians ac- counted for 79.3 % of the country’s residents; in 1989, their share was 79.6 %. At the same time, the percentage of the title population was decreasing in the other two republics: 74.6 % in 1959 and 61.5 % in 1989 in Estonia; 62 % and 52 % in Latvia [2]. Against the background of stable specific weight of the title nation, the number of Lithuanians at power was constantly increasing. Antanas 1 For more detail on the heuristic value of the ethnopolitical approach when consider- ing events in the field of enthnnational relation and analysing the causes, forms and methods of intended politicisation of ethnicity see the works of V. Tishkov [5—7]. 2 In this case, elites are viewed from the functional rather than value perspective, i.e. as individual exerting decisive influence on making decisions crucial for the society. 3 Researcher emphasise that the largest ethnic minorities (the Polish and Russians) generally tend to support the idea of integrating into the Lithuanian society, although they demonstrate different adaptation strategies. — For more detail, see [11]. 106 V. Smirnov Sniečkus, the head of the Communist Party of Lithuania in 1936—1974, played a significant role in this process. He was on good terms with the Soviet leadership, and as a result managed to minimise the deployment of large in- dustrial facilities in Lithuania, which would entail an inflow of a considerable number of non-Lithuanian Soviet citizens in the country. In 1953—1990, the number of incoming migrants amounted to 1.09 m people [16]. Table 1 Population of the Baltics, 1989—20114, million people, % Country 1989 2000 2011 Lithuania: Total population 3.674/100 3.484/100 3.244/100 Including: Lithuanians 2.924 / 79.6 2.907 / 83.5 2.721 / 83.9 Russians 0.344 / 9.40 0.219 / 6.3 0.174 / 5.4 Latvia: Total population 2.666 2.377 2.070 Including: Latvians 1.387 / 52.0 1.370 / 57.7 1.284 / 62.1 Russians 0.905 / 34.0 0.703 / 29.6 0.556 / 26.9 Estonia: Total population 1.565 1.370 1.340 Including: Estonians 0.963 / 61.5 0.930 / 67.9 0.924 / 69.0 Russians 0.474 / 30.3 0.351 / 25.6 0.341 / 25.5 Lithuania has several areas densely populated by different ethnic groups. East Lithuania is multi-ethnic; half of the population is Lithuanian, one third Polish, one fifth Belarusian, and one tenth Russian. In Šalčininkai, the Polish account for the absolute majority — 79.5 %, Lithuanians for 10.4 %, Russians for 5 %. In the Vilnius region, 61.3 % of residents are Polish, 22.4 % Lithuanian, 8.4 % Russian. Russians reside predominantly in Zarasai, Trakai, and Visaginas. Various research and election campaign results show that the ethnic mi- norities are not very active in the political life of modern Lithuania5. Their presence in high-level political structures and governmental institutions is insignificant. If representatives of ethnic minorities manage to secure a pub- 4 According to national censuses (there is no data on the number of Ukrainians, Bel- arusians, Jews, Gypsies, and other groups). 5 The election law adopted in 1992 introduced a lower threshold for ensuring par- liamentary representation of Russian and Polish minorities within political parties participating in election according to the proportional system: the universal thresh- old was 4%, the one for ethnic parties - 2%. In 1996, amendments were made to the law, according to which the universal threshold was raised to 5%, the one for elec- toral alliances to 7%, the one for ethnic minorities was abolished. 107 Political elites in countries of the Baltic Sea region lic position, in most cases it is one in the Seimas; as a rule, they are sup- 6 ported by ‘regular’ parties , i. e. those that do not declare the protection of rights of ethnic minorities a priority. The analysis of the post-independence composition of all Cabinets shows that ethnic minorities held ministerial po- sitions only in a handful of cases7. Predominantly, they worked at the mu- nicipal level. The Polish community has, as a rule, strong presence in the re- gions of Vilnius and Šalčininkai, and the Russian — in Klaipeda and Visaginas.
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