0000000000021412
AUTHOR
Lilita Seimuskane
The Development of Democracy and Local Governance in Latvia
The traditions of autonomous local governments in Latvia between the two world wars were interrupted in the Soviet period. The local council elections held in December 1989 were the first democratic elections in the postwar period. The elections were competitive, with more than one candidate running for each — post, and a majority system was implemented. Local government laws were passed in February 1990 when the Supreme Council of the Latvian SSR government adopted three separate laws on district, city and rural local governments. A short time before the re-establishment of the independent Republic of Latvia — a process in which the local governments played a great role (before Parliament …
PUBLIC TRUST AND PARTICIPATION DEPENDING ON ETHNICITY IN LATVIA
Low public trust in public power institutions is still an urgent problem among the Member States of the European Union. According to the latest Standard Eurobarometer 80 data, the trust continues decreasing. In Latvia trust indicators are also markedly low - 17% residents of Latvia trust in the national parliament, 21% - in the government, but the indicator of trust in political parties is explicitly critical - it constitutes only 6%. Since the Eurobarometer research only includes citizens' opinion, we can assume that the trust indicators are even lower. The population of Latvia consists of the Latvians, who are the titular nation - 59.6%, the Russians - 27% and other national minorities, f…
Assessment of Socio-Economic Status Relevance for Latvian Electoral Participation
In many countries, there is increasing concern about the decrease in the level of electoral participation in all types of elections. The situation in Latvia is not an exception. Despite the fact that the first scientific studies of electoral participation analysis date back to the 1940s–1950s, it is still relevant today to understand and explain the factors that affect the citizen’s choice (not) to participate in elections. The goal of this chapter was to find the factors that influence participation in elections in Latvia, and indirectly how it may affect local government and urban governance processes in the country. Using data from two elections in Latvia—local elections in 2013 and elec…