Conflict Prevention in Estonia: The Role of the Electoral System.

Khrychikov, Sergey and Miall, Hugh (2002) Conflict Prevention in Estonia: The Role of the Electoral System. Security Dialogue, 33 (2). pp. 193-208. ISSN 1460-3640

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Abstract

Estonia's success in averting a potential conflict over its Russian-speaking minority is often attributed to the intervention of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities. Indeed, the Estonian case is one of the most satisfactory encounters in the period of Max van der Stoel's impressive diplomatic engagement. However, deeper, structural factors were also important over the longer term. In particular, the voting system that Estonia adopted, based on the single transferable vote system of proportional representation, turned out to be important in encouraging political moderation. This article argues that a decisive factor in ethnic accommodation was the way the political system channelled the activities of the Russian-speaking groups into Estonian parties. Other contributory factors were the weakness of ethnic identity among the Russian-speakers and international constraints on Russian foreign policy. This analysis highlights the crucial role of domestic institutions in conflict prevention.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Security Dialogue
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300/3320
Subjects:
?? political science and international relationssociology and political scienceja political science (general) ??
ID Code:
13765
Deposited By:
Users 810 not found.
Deposited On:
02 Oct 2008 08:34
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
15 Jul 2024 09:30