P ARTIES AND ELECTIONS J ĀNIS I KSTENS. Audit of Democracy 2005-2014 How democratic is Latvia?...

PARTIES AND ELECTIONSJĀNIS IKSTENS

Audit of Democracy 2005-2014

How democratic is Latvia?

Political parties – ever more inclusive?



• Growing party penetration since 2007– Number of parties doubled– Number of party members grew by 70%– Low formal hurdles– Numerous local (!) parties



• Growing regulation and enforcement– Registry of party members– Minimum structure of decision making– Party/campaign finance restrictions



• High salience of election campaigns• Party finance– Private donations– Insignificant membership fees– Direct state funding since 2012

5.2

0.49

0.63

DonationsMembership feesState subsidy



• Internal party democracy– Leader-centered war machines in hostile

circumstances



• Low public trust in political parties– Government efficiency– Corruption – Issues of representation

• Main issue – limitation of undue (external) influence



Elections – accountability at work?



• Decrease in voter turnout– Low trust in political efficacy– Socio-economic factors– Peculiarities of statistics

1993. 1995. 1998. 2002. 2006. 2010. 2011. 2014.0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

89.9

71.9 71.9 71.5

61 63.159.4 58.8



• Above-average voter volatility– Dissatisfaction with social/economic

development– Low entrace thresholds for newcomers– Party finance and low institutionalization of

parties



• Growing use of preference votes– Political sophistication– Age – Ethnic minorities

2002. 2006. 2010. 2011. 2014.55

56

57

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

58.6

60.3

63.6

58

62.4



• Elections results accepted domestically and internationally– Wider participation opportunities– Good administration of elections– Measures against electoral fraud– Election observation (domestic/international)



• Avenues for further exploration– i-voting– Citizen associations eligible to field candidates– Wider access of candidates to media– Restrictions on KGB officers– NGOs and campaigning

• Main issue – falling turnout



Thank you!

P ARTIES AND ELECTIONS J ĀNIS I KSTENS. Audit of Democracy 2005-2014 How democratic is Latvia?...

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