Tõnis Saarts
Biographic Data
| ID | 4152068 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Tõnis Saarts |
| GIVEN NAMES | Tõnis |
| FAMILY NAME | Saarts |
| SIGNATURE | SAARTS T |
| AFFILIATIONS | Tallinn University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9873-9916 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 39 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 13 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Seeing the radical right movement parties as activist parties. The case of Ekre in Estonia
The Genesis of Party Systems
Liberal Democracy in Estonia
Estonia is often seen as a model student among the post-communist countries. Many renowned think tanks and organizations measuring the quality of democracy (e.g., Freedom House, Varieties of Democracy, Bertelsmann Foundation) often give Estonia the highest scores in the region. However, the seemingly spotless façade hides growing tensions and emergent contradictions. The current paper will focus on the two most worrisome trends that have become e…
Populist Online Mobilisation Strategies in Transnational Settings
La droite radicale populiste se transnationalise sur de nombreux fronts, notamment en traitant les migrants transnationaux comme des partisans potentiels et des militants de campagne. Comment le Parti populaire conservateur d’Estonie et sa branche finlandaise utilisent-ils médias et réseaux sociaux pour mener une campagne auprès de l’opinion publique, accroître leur visibilité et mobiliser leur électorat? L’analyse du matériau empirique mobilisé …
Populist Online Mobilisation Strategies in Transnational Settings
Institutionalization of transnationalizing political parties
While party institutionalization research has advanced notably in the recent years, the institutionalization of political parties that extend their organizations abroad (i.e. transnationalizing parties) has remained an academically uncharted territory. This article draws on party institutionalization literature and analyses the particularities of institutionalization in transnationalizing parties. The findings suggest that transnational instituti…
When a Right-Wing Populist Party Inherits a Mass Party Organisation
When the Eesti Konservatiivne Rahvaerakond (EKRE, Estonian Conservative People’s Party) took over the defunct but extensive party organisation of the Estonian People’s Union, it placed great emphasis on rebooting and extending the organisation and bringing in new activists. As a result, EKRE has grown into a full-fledged mass party type of organisation with all the characteristics associated to it. Furthermore, it has become the fastest-growing p…
The Long-Term Governmental Parties in Post-Communist Democracies
Post-communist democracies have been notorious for their under-institutionalized party systems and unstable governments. However, two exceptional cases stand out in the region: Liberal Democracy of Slovenia (LDS) ruled the country for 12 years uninterrupted, and the Estonian Reform Party (RE) was in government for an unbroken 17 years. The article explores the factors that contributed to the success of both parties. The results show that long-ter…
When the ethnic cleavage overshadows the class cleavage in a post-communist country and why we should care
There is a theoretical assumption that post-communist cofmanifesuntries would follow the Lipset and Rokkan's seminal model regarding electoral cleavages and thus class cleavage would become dominant in those countries as in the West. In this respect the post-communist Estonia is considered an interesting case. On the one hand, there are many enabling preconditions which should promote the class cleavage (e.g. the level of socio-economic developme…
Introducing regional self-governments in Central and Eastern Europe
Only over half of the new EU member states in Eastern Europe have introduced regional self-governments. This article explores the factors that have contributed to the success or failure of regionalization. The novel contribution of the article is as follows: first, if previous studies have mainly concentrated on larger countries that have successfully regionalized, the current study explores those factors that have contributed to the failure. Sec…
Mann and Relational Sociology
Persistence and decline of political parties
The article explores the factors contributing to the decline and persistence of the political parties in Estonia, while proposing a more systematic framework for tackling the problem. The case study is focused on three Estonian parties (Res Publica, People's Union, and the Centre Party). The article puts forward an empirical framework in which three central dimensions are explored: (1) system-level variables; (2) external-dynamic variables; and (…
Histories with Communism and Post-Communism – the Pathways in and the Pathways out
Tõnis Saarts, Institute of Political Science and Governance, Tallinn University, Tallinn, EstoniaErik Terk, Institute of Political Science and Governance, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia; The Estonian Institute for Futures Studies, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia
When a Right-Wing Populist Party Inherits a Mass Party Organisation
When the Eesti Konservatiivne Rahvaerakond (EKRE, Estonian Conservative People’s Party) took over the defunct but extensive party organisation of the Estonian People’s Union, it placed great emphasis on rebooting and extending the organisation and bringing in new activists. As a result, EKRE has grown into a full-fledged mass party type of organisation with all the characteristics associated to it. Furthermore, it has become the fastest-growing p…
Persistence and decline of political parties
The article explores the factors contributing to the decline and persistence of the political parties in Estonia, while proposing a more systematic framework for tackling the problem. The case study is focused on three Estonian parties (Res Publica, People's Union, and the Centre Party). The article puts forward an empirical framework in which three central dimensions are explored: (1) system-level variables; (2) external-dynamic variables; and (…
Institutionalization of transnationalizing political parties
While party institutionalization research has advanced notably in the recent years, the institutionalization of political parties that extend their organizations abroad (i.e. transnationalizing parties) has remained an academically uncharted territory. This article draws on party institutionalization literature and analyses the particularities of institutionalization in transnationalizing parties. The findings suggest that transnational instituti…
Introducing regional self-governments in Central and Eastern Europe
Only over half of the new EU member states in Eastern Europe have introduced regional self-governments. This article explores the factors that have contributed to the success or failure of regionalization. The novel contribution of the article is as follows: first, if previous studies have mainly concentrated on larger countries that have successfully regionalized, the current study explores those factors that have contributed to the failure. Sec…
When the ethnic cleavage overshadows the class cleavage in a post-communist country and why we should care
There is a theoretical assumption that post-communist cofmanifesuntries would follow the Lipset and Rokkan's seminal model regarding electoral cleavages and thus class cleavage would become dominant in those countries as in the West. In this respect the post-communist Estonia is considered an interesting case. On the one hand, there are many enabling preconditions which should promote the class cleavage (e.g. the level of socio-economic developme…
Seeing the radical right movement parties as activist parties. The case of Ekre in Estonia
Liberal Democracy in Estonia
Estonia is often seen as a model student among the post-communist countries. Many renowned think tanks and organizations measuring the quality of democracy (e.g., Freedom House, Varieties of Democracy, Bertelsmann Foundation) often give Estonia the highest scores in the region. However, the seemingly spotless façade hides growing tensions and emergent contradictions. The current paper will focus on the two most worrisome trends that have become e…
Populist Online Mobilisation Strategies in Transnational Settings
La droite radicale populiste se transnationalise sur de nombreux fronts, notamment en traitant les migrants transnationaux comme des partisans potentiels et des militants de campagne. Comment le Parti populaire conservateur d’Estonie et sa branche finlandaise utilisent-ils médias et réseaux sociaux pour mener une campagne auprès de l’opinion publique, accroître leur visibilité et mobiliser leur électorat? L’analyse du matériau empirique mobilisé …
The Long-Term Governmental Parties in Post-Communist Democracies
Post-communist democracies have been notorious for their under-institutionalized party systems and unstable governments. However, two exceptional cases stand out in the region: Liberal Democracy of Slovenia (LDS) ruled the country for 12 years uninterrupted, and the Estonian Reform Party (RE) was in government for an unbroken 17 years. The article explores the factors that contributed to the success of both parties. The results show that long-ter…
Histories with Communism and Post-Communism – the Pathways in and the Pathways out
Tõnis Saarts, Institute of Political Science and Governance, Tallinn University, Tallinn, EstoniaErik Terk, Institute of Political Science and Governance, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia; The Estonian Institute for Futures Studies, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia
Persistence and decline of political parties
The article explores the factors contributing to the decline and persistence of the political parties in Estonia, while proposing a more systematic framework for tackling the problem. The case study is focused on three Estonian parties (Res Publica, People's Union, and the Centre Party). The article puts forward an empirical framework in which three central dimensions are explored: (1) system-level variables; (2) external-dynamic variables; and (…
Mann and Relational Sociology
Introducing regional self-governments in Central and Eastern Europe
Only over half of the new EU member states in Eastern Europe have introduced regional self-governments. This article explores the factors that have contributed to the success or failure of regionalization. The novel contribution of the article is as follows: first, if previous studies have mainly concentrated on larger countries that have successfully regionalized, the current study explores those factors that have contributed to the failure. Sec…
When the ethnic cleavage overshadows the class cleavage in a post-communist country and why we should care
There is a theoretical assumption that post-communist cofmanifesuntries would follow the Lipset and Rokkan's seminal model regarding electoral cleavages and thus class cleavage would become dominant in those countries as in the West. In this respect the post-communist Estonia is considered an interesting case. On the one hand, there are many enabling preconditions which should promote the class cleavage (e.g. the level of socio-economic developme…
Institutionalization of transnationalizing political parties
While party institutionalization research has advanced notably in the recent years, the institutionalization of political parties that extend their organizations abroad (i.e. transnationalizing parties) has remained an academically uncharted territory. This article draws on party institutionalization literature and analyses the particularities of institutionalization in transnationalizing parties. The findings suggest that transnational instituti…
When a Right-Wing Populist Party Inherits a Mass Party Organisation
When the Eesti Konservatiivne Rahvaerakond (EKRE, Estonian Conservative People’s Party) took over the defunct but extensive party organisation of the Estonian People’s Union, it placed great emphasis on rebooting and extending the organisation and bringing in new activists. As a result, EKRE has grown into a full-fledged mass party type of organisation with all the characteristics associated to it. Furthermore, it has become the fastest-growing p…
The Long-Term Governmental Parties in Post-Communist Democracies
Post-communist democracies have been notorious for their under-institutionalized party systems and unstable governments. However, two exceptional cases stand out in the region: Liberal Democracy of Slovenia (LDS) ruled the country for 12 years uninterrupted, and the Estonian Reform Party (RE) was in government for an unbroken 17 years. The article explores the factors that contributed to the success of both parties. The results show that long-ter…
Liberal Democracy in Estonia
Estonia is often seen as a model student among the post-communist countries. Many renowned think tanks and organizations measuring the quality of democracy (e.g., Freedom House, Varieties of Democracy, Bertelsmann Foundation) often give Estonia the highest scores in the region. However, the seemingly spotless façade hides growing tensions and emergent contradictions. The current paper will focus on the two most worrisome trends that have become e…
Populist Online Mobilisation Strategies in Transnational Settings
La droite radicale populiste se transnationalise sur de nombreux fronts, notamment en traitant les migrants transnationaux comme des partisans potentiels et des militants de campagne. Comment le Parti populaire conservateur d’Estonie et sa branche finlandaise utilisent-ils médias et réseaux sociaux pour mener une campagne auprès de l’opinion publique, accroître leur visibilité et mobiliser leur électorat? L’analyse du matériau empirique mobilisé …
Populist Online Mobilisation Strategies in Transnational Settings
Seeing the radical right movement parties as activist parties. The case of Ekre in Estonia
The Genesis of Party Systems
Political science (11 works) · Politics (9 works) · Law (8 works) · Law (8 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Political economy (7 works) · European Union Policy and Governance (5 works) · Populism, Right-Wing Movements (5 works) · Communism (4 works) · Electoral Systems and Political Participation (4 works)