Bureaucratization or Strengthening of the Political

Estonian Institutions and Integration into the European Union

Dados Bibliográficos

ID8912352
AutoresKristi Raik (0000-0002-6185-8532, The Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Mannerheimintie 15A, FIN-00260 Helsinki, Finland., autor correspondente)
Ano2002
Volume37
Fascículo2
Páginas137-156
Data de publicação2002-06-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoCooperation and Conflict (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0010-8367 • E-ISSN: 1460-3691
EditoraSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0010836702037002974
OpenAlexW2123430052
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas5
Referências citadas17

Along with accession negotiations, integration into the European Union (EU) has become a central dimension of Estonian politics, creating new institutional practices and shaping domestic political processes. This article explores how the positions of and relations between the Estonian government, civil servants, parliament and civil society have been constructed in the course of preparations for EU membership, and discusses the findings from the viewpoint of democratic politics. With the help of different concepts of discursive power, it is highlighted that although parliament and civil society have acquired increasing power in the discourses of integration and there have been attempts to increase their involvement, power over these discourses is still predominantly exercised by civil servants and the government. This reflects the tensions built into the logic of integration that, on the one hand, is dominated by the principles of speed, efficiency, expertise and inevitability, but on the other has placed increasing emphasis on the democratic aspect. Altogether, integration tends to limit democracy to a minimal model, reinforcing some general weaknesses of democracy that are common in the post-communist countries, and intertwining these with the technocratic, elite-centred tradition of the EU that is being adopted by the applicant states

Civil society · Democracy · Economic system · Economics · Elite · European union · Negotiation · Parliament · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Sociology · Technocracy · European Union Policy and Governance · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Law · Political Systems and Governance · Public Administration