Presidents between national unity and ethnic divisions: public trust across the Baltic states

ENThe Baltic presidents have in common that they are supposed to embody the ‘nation’ and provide an image of their countries abroad. But can the president embody the people if ‘the people’ itself is divided? In this article, we will focus on public trust in the presidency between the majority and minority population in the Baltic states. Drawing on public opinion surveys, the aim is to examine the determinants of public trust in the presidential institution and support for the performance and principles of the political system as well identification with the political community itself. Among our findings, we conclude that ethnic or linguistic identity explains trust to a considerable degree, which suggests that trust is not only an expression of specific political support, but also part of a more deep-seated, diffuse support. Keywords: Trust; president; institutions; political support; Estonia; Latvia; Lithuania; russian minority. [From the publication]

• Communicating democracy: the discourse of political leaders of the Baltic States / Līga Romāne-Kalniņa. Parlamento studijos 2022, Nr. 32, p. 49-68.
• Comparative politics and government of the Baltic states : Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the 21st century / Daunis Auers. Basingstoke ; Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. xi, 269 p.
• Determinants of public support for EU membership : data from the Baltic countries / Piret Ehin. European journal of political research. 2001, Vol. 40, no. 1, p. 31-56.
• Parliamentarism versus semi-presidentialism in the Baltic States : the causes and consequences of differences in the constitutional frameworks / Zenonas Norkus. Baltic journal of political science. 2013, no 2, p. 7-28.
• Political culture in the Baltic states: between national and European integration / Kjetil Duvold, Sten Berglund, Joakim Ekman. Cham : Palgrave Macmillan, 2019. 220 p.
• Political support in the Baltic States, 1993-2004 / Piret Ehin. Journal of baltic studies. 2007, Vol. 38, no. 1, p. 1-20.
• Semi-presidentialism in Lithuania: origins, development and challenges / Algis Krupavičius. Semi-presidentialism in Central and Eastern Europe / edited by Robert Elgie & Sophia Moestrup. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2008. P. 65-84.
• Semi-presidential policy-making in Europe : executive coordination and political leadership / Tapio Raunio, Thomas Sedelius. Cham : Springer International Publishing, 2020. 169 p.
• Shifting power-centres of semi-presidentialism : exploring executive coordination in Lithuania / Tapio Raunio, Thomas Sedelius. Government and opposition (London) 2017, 1 pdf (24 p.).
• The Presidency and democratic consolidation in Lithuania / Laimonas Talat-Kelpša. Journal of Baltic studies. 2001, vol. 32, no. 2, p. 156-169.