No. 3

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No. 3, June 2001

The Role of the Riigikogu in the Accession of Estonia into the European Union. Political Communication: Using the New Media Facilities to Develop Democracy. Knowledge-Based Estonia and Science Policy. Estonian Economy in a Globalising World. EU Accession through Political Integration and Economic Convergence. Judical Independence. Elections in Estonia in the 1990´s. The Voter of Tomorrow: the Civic Competence of Teenagers. Legal Protection in Public Procurement Proceedings. The Budget as Guarantee for the Transparency of the Public Sector? How to be a Sustainable Small State? Civic Society and Social Capital.

 

Summaries of articles are in English.

Full articles in Estonian

Editor-in-Chief’s Column

  • Editor-in-Chief’s Columns

    The work of the Parliament is reflected in the media, legislation, proceeding from reforms, and government statistics. The opening columns, reflecting on the Estonian press, reform statistics and articles in Riigikogu Toimetised (RiTo) No. 3, lead from the image of the Estonian Parliament and the voters' expectations towards the future plans of RiTo, where words count.

Parliamentary democracy

  • The Role of the Riigikogu in the Accession of Estonia into the European Union

    Recent trends indicate an increasingly important and wider role for national parliaments both in the EU legislative process and in domestic decision-making. Eurointegration seems to have resulted in the general strengthening of the sense of responsibility and self-awareness in national parliaments. Public opinion tends to view the EU as a huge bureaucracy far away in Brussels whose decisions benefit only those making them. On the other hand, the European Parliament, elected directly by the citizens since 1979, is believed to be the most democratic institution. The Amsterdam Treaty defines the functions of national parliaments and further strengthens the European Parliament's role.

Politics

  • Do We Know How to Use New Media Facilities for Developing Democracy and Do We Want to Do This?

    18 June 2001

    Politics

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    In a short time, Estonia has become one of the countries, where the Internet is used on a daily basis by a rapidly increasing number of customers, comparable to that of mass media (see Table 1).

  • The Relations of Parliament with the People through Media and through the Prism of Media

    18 June 2001

    Politics

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    The relations between the Parliament and the people go through the playing field of the media. It is important for democracy that information would be forwarded in both directions ungarbled, or that the receiver of the information would have, at least, the possibility of checking what message was sent out and what was added or cut out by the mediator who forwarded it. It is also important that everybody would be respected and nobody, discriminated against. Only democracy needs truth, and only free press stands in the service of truth, while nobody has a monopoly on truth.

  • From Jakob Hurt to Knowledge-Based Estonia

    18 June 2001

    Politics

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    In modern society, public research and development activities provide a development basis, which creates prerequisites for promoting spiritual values, improving the quality of life and enhancing economic competitiveness.

  • Science and the Future

    18 June 2001

    Politics

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    The paper deals with issues of Estonian science policy against the background of the European Research Area, but it also stresses that more attention should be paid to social sciences and other sciences focussing on Estonia.

  • The Present Science Policy Does Not Justify Itself

    18 June 2001

    Politics

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    Several research workers and other people have maintained that in previous years the achievements of our scientists who received a scientific degree were widely known; successful research workers were also praised as a national treasure. In the past decade, scientific research became like pottering about in private. Society does not know what researchers are doing, let alone that scientists would have their say in the preparation of decisions which are of importance to the state, although science is financed mainly by the state budget in Estonia.

  • Balance Problems in Science Policy

    18 June 2001

    Politics

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    Knowledge-based and science-centred society is becoming another slogan enabling us to justify any decisions made in science policy. We should be aware and informed of all major scientific advances in the world, but at the same time Estonia is so small that we need to ask precise questions about what kind of science we should be developing with our limited resources. Unfortunately, posing this simple question and working out a strategy for the development of science was postponed since 1990 (when the Research and Development Council (RDC) was founded) until this year, when the project of the Estonian Research and Development Strategy reached the Riigikogu.

  • Estonian Economy in a Globalising World

    18 June 2001

    Politics

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    Globalisation, as a worldwide integration of money, trade and labour markets, influences the open economy of small Estonia more than many other countries. This process is associated with several dangers, but also with interesting challenges and opportunities. Despite the dangers, it is not necessary - and generally not possible either - to fight it, although the state must monitor the processes involved and interfere by means of economic policy when necessary, in order to prevent negative consequences and make use of positive opportunities.

  • Estonian Economic Policy: How are We Using Limited Resources?

    18 June 2001

    Politics

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    The objective of the economic policy is to specify the means by which maximum profitability can be achieved with limited resources.

  • Estonian Agricultural Policy and WTO Agreement Do Not Serve the National Interests

    18 June 2001

    Politics

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    Due to a low population density and centuries-long European-style agricultural and forestry practices, Estonia possesses good agricultural and forestry resources. In contrast to forestry resources, Estonian agricultural potential has not found adequate economic use.

  • Economic Aspects Relating to the Development of Housing

    18 June 2001

    Politics

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    Estonia is currently in a position where a significant proportion of housing comes in the form of apartment buildings that are totally outdated. The period in history when such housing was built has not changed people's attitudes regarding preferred types of accommodation.

  • Why Estonia Wants to Join the European Union?

    18 June 2001

    Politics

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    Four Estonian towns were active members of the Hanseatic League, a medieval trade partnership. This may explain why the idea of pan-European co-operation, put forward in 1923 by Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi, received extremely enthusiastic reception in Estonia, which in the 1920s was enjoying its newly-found independence.

  • Euroscepticism Feeds on Failure of Domestic Politics

    18 June 2001

    Politics

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    Membership in the European Union should not be an aim in itself, nor a substitute for imaginary security guarantees. The EU is predominantly an economic partnership that is dominated by large industrially developed countries and multinational capital with its cross-border capital flows. This creates the need for small countries to position themselves in this partnership and in the international division of labour, balancing their economic interests with projections on domestic developments.

Constitutional institutions

Studies

  • Science, Creative Work, Necessities

    18 June 2001

    Studies

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    Recently, the Government has submitted the Estonian Science and Technology Strategy "Knowledge-based Estonia" to the Riigikogu. The speech of Prime Minister Mart Laar, and the accompanying speeches of Mart Meri, and the author of this paper, have illuminated several aspects of science and technology in Estonia and the necessities of the state. This paper gives an additional viewpoint concerning several activities and choices in formulating the aims of science and technology for a small country, stressing the needs for the future and possible hindrances.

  • Policy Process and Social Sciences

    18 June 2001

    Studies

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    People in power have always liked to exchange ideas with sociologists. Already in ancient Greece, philosophers debated on the subject of the ideal organisation of society and policy. In today's developed industrial countries, it is hard to imagine the policy-making process without the active involvement of social scientists, research institutes, universities and private companies.

  • The Future of Sociology of Law in Estonia: Is There Hope?

    18 June 2001

    Studies

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    There are two questions at the heart of this debate: first, does the sociology of law as a science have a future in Estonia and, secondly, can we fully understand and implement the opportunities provided by the sociology of law?

  • Legislation Needs a Logical and Pragmatic Approach

    18 June 2001

    Studies

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    Some of Estonia's more active members of the legislature are restless in their call to do away with the traditional, the classical, i.e. formal logical approach and, instead, to adopt a more pragmatic view of things. This approach is based on the assumption that a logical approach is outdated, superficial and misleading. The proliferation of such statements is a deliberate attempt to revive primitive Marxist ideology, which was discarded even by Marxists and Leninist themselves already in the 1960's.

  • Cognition, Media and Political Communication

    18 June 2001

    Studies

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    Cognition, media and political communication are being shaped daily. Since there is less time for decisions, especially in the case of political decisions, no one is able to go into details. Cognitive heuristics as a dimension of ambiguity may direct the decision-making process rightly or wrongly. A typical example of this situation was the findings of one social study, which was not analysed in depth by the press. As a result, the findings were misinterpreted and lead to wrong political decisions.

  • Information Strategy for the Digital Parliament

    18 June 2001

    Studies

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    The Internet is changing the way all organisations operate and do business. The conventional Information System and Information Technology Strategies of the past are no longer sufficient or appropriate. Instead, a different approach is needed that takes into account the new convergence of content.

  • Elections in the 1990s in Estonia

    18 June 2001

    Studies

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    The 1990's brought not only six elections, but also increasingly acute problems that were new to Estonian political life.

  • Simplification of Electoral Rules

    18 June 2001

    Studies

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    Participation in the Riigikogu elections has tumbled to a worrisome degree because all too many people think popular vote has no impact.

  • Reforming Elections

    18 June 2001

    Studies

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    The country's electoral system is one of the central elements of its political system. Although one may think that changing an electoral system is relatively easy, electoral reforms are a very rare phenomenon in developed democracies.

  • The Voter of Tomorrow: A Sociological Approach to the Civic Competence of Teenagers

    18 June 2001

    Studies

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) recently gauged the civic knowledge and attitudes of 14-year-olds in 26 countries. Current paper deals with electoral attitudes and expected behaviour of Estonian teenagers based on data of above IEA Civic Education Study.

  • Constitutional Shock from America: Elections in the Postmodern Revolution

    18 June 2001

    Studies

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    The electoral crisis in the USA got the unusually lively coverage in Estonia for the following reasons: being the most important strategic partner and ally of Estonia the future of American developments and the nature of its democratic institutions are of vital interest for Estonia. The role of the USA and the preservation of America's democratic values is even more important for Estonia today as we face the strong gravitational forces from basically socialist and bureaucratic institutions of the EU. Until Estonia has to cope with the threats like the ones exercised by the EU against Austria the ally able to balance out these challenges remains in the USA.

  • European Union Accession through Integration and Convergence

    18 June 2001

    Studies

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    Estonia's integration into the EU has three levels of convergence: nominal, real and institutional convergence.

  • Legal Protection in Public Procurement Proceedings

    18 June 2001

    Studies

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    The new Public Procurements Act, which was implemented on April 1, 2001, introduced a new procedure for resolving disputes concerning public tenders. The Constitution of Estonia states that it must be possible to protect free competition and contest in the court of law the awarding of public tenders and orders. This protection must be efficient. National interests require that disputes in procurement matters are resolved as quickly as possible.

  • Is Endowment Pension Impoverishing the Nation?

    18 June 2001

    Studies

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    An important element in the endowment pension scheme is that it requires adequate savings to function. Therefore, a decision to launch an endowment pension scheme cannot merely be political. Instead, it should be an integrated economic resolution, which reinforces the need to re-invest endowment pension funds in the country's economy, and thus lower the cost of finance capital for domestic businessmen. However, more important that that is to ensure that the obligation to lay aside money for pension reform does not increase the poverty of Estonian society.

  • Comments: Painful Areas in the Continuation of Pension Reform

    18 June 2001

    Studies

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    A pension concept based on three pillars was approved by the last government and today the law provisions for two of them: a state pension (I pillar) and voluntary accumulative insurance (III pillar). The II pillar - the implementation of the principles of an obligatory accumulative insurance - has so far been held back by two painful sets of problems.

  • The Budget: A Guarantee for the Transparency of the Public Sector

    18 June 2001

    Studies

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    The budget of the public sector determines the trustworthiness and effectiveness of a state and has a significant effect on other sectors within it. As a result, the organisation of budgeting continues to remain a subject for topical discussion. Different budgeting methods have their respective strengths and weaknesses: if the mathematical time sets method is suitable for financial managers then the result-based verbal method is much more suitable for politicians. The price of realising these methods is also very different.

  • The Financial Autonomy of Parliaments

    18 June 2001

    Studies

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    The autonomy of parliaments means organisational, functional, administrative and financial autonomy. Legally, the principle of the parliaments' autonomy is contained within the constitution of a state.

  • European Union Charter of Basic Rights: a Natural Development in a Uniting Europe?

    18 June 2001

    Studies

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    The decision taken by the European Supreme Assembly in Cologne, in 1999 - to create the Charter of Basic Rights of the European Union (hereafter the Charter) - has been implemented today. The Charter was prepared in less than a year. Such a pace reminds one of Estonia, where in the course of the legal system reform, acts had to be written several times faster than in countries with a long tradition of democracy. The European Union (EU) neither can nor wishes to be left behind in general developments or to prevent expansion. In addition to the speed, the preparation of the Charter has been characterised by democracy and transparency. In the process of creating the Charter, interest was also shown towards the opinions of candidate states.1

  • European Union Charter of Basic Rights and the European Convention of Human Rights

    18 June 2001

    Studies

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    At the initiative of Germany, an assembly was formed at the summit meeting of the European Union (EU) in 1999, in Cologne. Its aim was to develop a draft of the Charter of Basic Rights of the EU, and to present it at the summit meeting of the EU in Nice, in December 2000.

  • What Is the Basis for Estonia Being Fit to Continue as a Small State?

    18 June 2001

    Studies

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    The article will analyse the ethical, institutional, social, economic and ecological basis for Estonia's ability to continue its existence on the basis of existing literature. The results permit us to claim that Estonia has an average, or relatively good ethical, institutional and social basis for the building of a society that is able to continue its existence.

Civil society and state authority

International parliamentary relations

History of the Parliament

Varia

  • Estonian Political Caricature 2000

    18 June 2001

    Varia

    RiTo No. 3, 2001

    Every event has a time in which it is remembered. The idea for an exhibition (total of 1,823 pictures!) and the recognition of political caricatures of major Estonian newspapers in 2000, was in the first issue of Riigikogu Toimetised [Journal of Estonian Parliament] together with 44 caricatures from the period of 1907-1999.1

Literature and Databases

Art gallery

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