The book is the first systematic and comparative effort to capture political culture in the Baltic countries, including political orientation and support for democracy. Revolving around public opinion data from the 1990s and onwards, including two recent surveys commissioned by the authors, the book takes stock of the political climate prevailing in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania a quarter of a century after reclaiming independence and fifteen years after becoming members of NATO and the EU. These three countries share the same geopolitical fate and many contemporary challenges, and yet each has been marked by their own transitions and struggles between nation building and European integration, Western and post-Soviet orientations, and past experience and future aspirations.

This original and thought provoking book addresses the major issues in the present debate surrounding the EU, including the impact of eastward enlargement as well as the prospect of further expansion.Treating the EU as a single political entity comparable to other political systems, the authors discuss the implications of the neighbourhood programmes, the balance between vertical and horizontal integration, the constitutional crisis and the foundations of a potential European society. They also focus on topics rarely raised in the political and academic debate including the hybrid nature of the EU: It does not qualify as a state, but it is not just another intergovernmental organisation; it promotes democracy, but it is not yet a democracy in its own right. The EU is placed within a global federal context, and it is argued that the territorial expansion from the EU15 to the EU27 has added substance, but also complexity to the EU. All this makes the book a unique addition to the current literature. Applying a broad, pan-European comparative perspective, this invaluable research tool will strongly appeal to academics and students of European studies and political science and institutions such as foreign offices, embassies and EU organizations.

The book is the first systematic and comparative effort to capture political culture in the Baltic countries, including political orientation and support for democracy. Revolving around public opinion data from the 1990s and onwards, including two recent surveys commissioned by the authors, the book takes stock of the political climate prevailing in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania a quarter of a century after reclaiming independence and fifteen years after becoming members of NATO and the EU. These three countries share the same geopolitical fate and many contemporary challenges, and yet each has been marked by their own transitions and struggles between nation building and European integration, Western and post-Soviet orientations, and past experience and future aspirations.

The book explores the advance of democracy in the Baltic states over a period of 15 years. By and large successful cases of democratisation the three states had to cope with several problematic legacies, some of which prompted Estonian and Latvian authorities to impose restrictive and controversial citizenship laws. The book also explores the ties between institutions and ordinary people. Aided by the New Europe Barometer, an extensive collection of data covering more than a decade of democratisation, this multi-level study reveals that democracy as an ideal enjoys increasing support, but that many Baltic citizens remain unconvinced about the performance of democracy. Corruption and the rule of law are particularly thorny issues, while political parties and MPs are widely held in contempt. The Russophones are more reluctant to embrace the current system, expressing greater enthusiasm for the Soviet system of the past. This in-depth study of political disaffection, party representation, and nation building will appeal not only to scholars with an interest in Baltic and East-Central European democracies, but offers wider perspectives on many vital issues of comparative politics.