Audit of Democracy 2005-2014
How democratic is Latvia?
The Audit ‘How Democratic is Latvia’ published in 2005 was the
first systemic assessment of democracy to be performed by local
experts in any of the post-Communist or post-Soviet ountries
Audit of 2014 assesses democracy in Latvia over the ten-year
period spent as a member state of NATO and the EU.
Audit of Democracy 2005-2014
How democratic is Latvia?
The Audit of Democracy of Latvia 2014 was based on the
methodology of International IDEA which includes 78 questions
on various areas of social life. IDEA methodology provides for the
assessment of the level of democracy in four interlinked blocks :
1. Citizenship, law and rights includes matters related to the
political nation and citizenship (Chapter 1), rule of law
(Chapter 2), civic and political rights (Chapter 3), and
economic and social rights (Chapter 4).
2. Representative and Responsible Governance includes
matters related to to free and fair elections (Chapter 5), the
role of political parties in democracy (Chapter 6), efficient
and responsible governance (Chapter 7), democratic
efficiency of the parliament (Chapter 8), civic control over the
armed forces and police (Chapter 9) and integrity in social life
(Chapter 10)
Audit of Democracy 2005-2014
How democratic is Latvia?
3. Civic Society and People’s Participation addresses matters
related to the role of media in the society (Chapter 11), political
participation (Chapter 12) and decentralization of public
administration (Chapter 13).
Audit of 2014 is supplemented with a Chapter 14 on the totality
of individuals’ values, attitudes and convictions which shape
the basis for the functioning of a political system and which are
referred to as ‘political culture’ in literature. One sub-chapter
focuses especially on how the reciprocal perception and
attitudes of two large ethno-linguistic groups in Latvia
distinguished by the language used in everyday life (Latvian or
Russian) influence democratic processes.
4. International Dimensions of Democracy. Considering the
continuously increasing impact of international factors on
democratic development, Chapter 15 includes matters related
to the influence of external factors on state policy and state and
society support for democratic development abroad
Audit of Democracy 2005-2014
How democratic is Latvia?
Preparation, publication and dissemination of the Audit-2014 was funded by
the National Research Program ‘National Identity’, Friedrich Ebert Foundation
and Embassy of the United States of America in Latvia.
An expert group was formed under the auspices of the Advanced Social and
Political Research Institute (ASPRI) of the Faculty of Social Sciences (SZF) of the
University of Latvia for preparing chapters of Audit 2005-2014. In addition to
researchers from the SZF, this group also included experts from the Latvian
Centre for Human Rights, Centre for Public Policy PROVIDUS, Faculty of
Economics and Management of the University of Latvia, and Vidzeme
University of Applied Sciences.
AUTHORS
Vita DREIJERE
Doctoral candidate, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia
Dr. Ivars IJABS
Associate professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia
Dr. Jānis IKSTENS
Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia
Dr. Valts KALNIŅŠ
Anhelita KAMENSKA
Assistant professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia. Researcher, Public Policy
Centre “Providus”
Director, Latvian Centre for Human Rights
Boriss KOLČANOVS
Researcher, Latvian Centre for Human Rights
Dr. Gatis LITVINS
Director of Latvian Notary Institute, Associate researcher, Public Policy Centre “Providus”
Jurijs NIKIŠINS
Doctoral candidate, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia
Dr. Žaneta OZOLIŅA
Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia
Dr. Feliciana RAJEVSKA
Associate professor, Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences
Dr. Iveta REINHOLDE
Associate professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia
Dr. Toms ROSTOKS
Assistant professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia.
Dr. Juris ROZENVALDS
Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia
Dr. Ojārs SKUDRA
Associate professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia
Ilze ŠULMANE
Lecturer, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia
Dr. Visvaldis VALTENBERGS Assistant professor, Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences
Dr. Inga VILKA
Associate professor, Faculty of Economics and Management, University of Latvia
Sigita ZANKOVSKA- ODIŅA Researcher, Latvian Centre for Human Rights
Dr. Brigita ZEPA
Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia
Audit of Democracy 2005-2014
How democratic is Latvia?
A public opinion poll based on evaluation questions (carried out by public
opinion research centre SKDS) was conducted within the scope of the project
from March–April 2014 as a supplement to the expert assessment.
Audit of Democracy 2005-2014
How democratic is Latvia?
Very good
Good
Satisfactory
10.1
x
10.2
x
10.3
x
10.4
10.5
Poor
x
x
Best features.............................................................
Most serious problem ..................................................
Suggested improvements ......................................................
Very poor
Audit of Democracy 2005-2014
How democratic is Latvia?
In the Appendix 1 you will find comparison between assessements of
2005, 2007 and 2014.
Audit of Democracy 2005-2014
How democratic is Latvia?
Achievements of the past decade
• One of the conclusions drawn in the Audit of 2005 has been fully confirmed, i.e.
that joining NATO and the EU has significantly decreased the influence of negative
external factors on the domestic political processes taking place in Latvia.
• Continuous progress is being made in terms of achieving greater openness on the
part of the legislator, government and public authorities towards the society.
• Courts in Latvia are independent from interference in administration of justice,
and the lengthiness of court proceedings has ceased to be the uncontested weak
spot of the entire judicial system. Slowly but surely, the society’s trust in courts is
increasing.
• The population in Latvia does not encounter unreasonable restrictions in terms of
freedom of assembly and expressing their opinions. This is strengthened by the
positive judicial practice in these matters.
• In general, Latvia has strong municipalities which enjoy a comparatively high level
of trust from the society, and a wide, active and dynamic spectrum of NGOs.
• During recent years, important steps have been made towards strengthening civic
ties with those residents of Latvia who were born in non-citizen families as well as
with those who have chosen to leave for Western countries in order to seek a
better life.
Audit of Democracy 2005-2014
How democratic is Latvia?
Failures of the past decade
•
•
•
Firstly, the disproportionately large socio-economic inequality, which has
increased dramatically after the re-instatement of independence and
resulted in only a small part of the society being able to fully enjoy the
achievements of the Latvian society’s modernization process.
Secondly, alienation between the holders of power and the general public
still exists. Estrangement from democratic institutions is increasing in a
significant part of the society.
Thirdly, the state of Latvia has not succeeded in settling relations between
the major ethno-linguistic groups during the last ten years.. Results of the
poll also give grounds to claim that the society’s mood in terms of mutual
relations between the ethno-linguistic communities is more moderate and
aimed towards compromise than the mood existing in the political elite. This,
in turn, raises the question of the political elite’s accountability before the
public regarding such an ethno-political arrangement in Latvia which would
ensure preservation and development of the Latvian culture, simultaneously
facilitating civic peace.
The aim of the Human Development Report 2012/2013
"Sustainable Nation" is to evaluate the current
development processes in Latvia, paying particular
attention to the social dimension of sustainability
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Social sustainability and inequality
Challenges for the sustainability of Latvian pension system
Demographics and poverty in families with children
Sustainable nation and integration of society
Sustainability of democracy and civic participation
Use of information in context of social sustainability
Sustainability of territories: the individual perspective