Audit of Democracy 2005-2014 How democratic is Latvia? The Audit ‘How Democratic is Latvia’ published in 2005 was the first systemic assessment of democracy

Audit of Democracy 2005-2014How democratic is Latvia?

The Audit ‘How Democratic is Latvia’ published in 2005 was the first systemic assessment of democracy to be performed by local experts in any of the post-Communist or post-Soviet ountries

Audit of 2014 assesses democracy in Latvia over the ten-year period spent as a member state of NATO and the EU.

The Audit of Democracy of Latvia 2014 was based on the methodology of International IDEA which includes 78 questions on various areas of social life. IDEA methodology provides for the assessment of the level of democracy in four interlinked blocks :

1. Citizenship, law and rights includes matters related to the political nation and citizenship (Chapter 1), rule of law (Chapter 2), civic and political rights (Chapter 3), and economic and social rights (Chapter 4).

2. Representative and Responsible Governance includes matters related to to free and fair elections (Chapter 5), the role of political parties in democracy (Chapter 6), efficient and responsible governance (Chapter 7), democratic efficiency of the parliament (Chapter 8), civic control over the armed forces and police (Chapter 9) and integrity in social life (Chapter 10)

Audit of Democracy 2005-2014

How democratic is Latvia?

3. Civic Society and People’s Participation addresses matters related to the role of media in the society (Chapter 11), political participation (Chapter 12) and decentralization of public administration (Chapter 13).

Audit of 2014 is supplemented with a Chapter 14 on the totality of individuals’ values, attitudes and convictions which shape the basis for the functioning of a political system and which are referred to as ‘political culture’ in literature. One sub-chapter focuses especially on how the reciprocal perception and attitudes of two large ethno-linguistic groups in Latvia distinguished by the language used in everyday life (Latvian or Russian) influence democratic processes.

4. International Dimensions of Democracy. Considering the continuously increasing impact of international factors on democratic development, Chapter 15 includes matters related to the influence of external factors on state policy and state and society support for democratic development abroad





Preparation, publication and dissemination of the Audit-2014 was funded by the National Research Program ‘National Identity’, Friedrich Ebert Foundation and Embassy of the United States of America in Latvia.An expert group was formed under the auspices of the Advanced Social and Political Research Institute (ASPRI) of the Faculty of Social Sciences (SZF) of the University of Latvia for preparing chapters of Audit 2005-2014. In addition to researchers from the SZF, this group also included experts from the Latvian Centre for Human Rights, Centre for Public Policy PROVIDUS, Faculty of Economics and Management of the University of Latvia, and Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences.

AUTHORSVita DREIJERE Doctoral candidate, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia

Dr. Ivars IJABS Associate professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia

Dr. Jānis IKSTENS Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia

Dr. Valts KALNIŅŠ Assistant professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia. Researcher, Public Policy Centre “Providus”

Anhelita KAMENSKA Director, Latvian Centre for Human Rights

Boriss KOLČANOVS Researcher, Latvian Centre for Human Rights

Dr. Gatis LITVINS Director of Latvian Notary Institute, Associate researcher, Public Policy Centre “Providus”

Jurijs NIKIŠINS Doctoral candidate, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia

Dr. Žaneta OZOLIŅA Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia

Dr. Feliciana RAJEVSKA Associate professor, Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences

Dr. Iveta REINHOLDE Associate professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia

Dr. Toms ROSTOKS Assistant professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia.

Dr. Juris ROZENVALDS Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia

Dr. Ojārs SKUDRA Associate professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia

Ilze ŠULMANE Lecturer, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia

Dr. Visvaldis VALTENBERGS Assistant professor, Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences

Dr. Inga VILKA Associate professor, Faculty of Economics and Management, University of Latvia

Sigita ZANKOVSKA- ODIŅA Researcher, Latvian Centre for Human Rights

Dr. Brigita ZEPA Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia



A public opinion poll based on evaluation questions (carried out by public opinion research centre SKDS) was conducted within the scope of the project from March–April 2014 as a supplement to the expert assessment.

Very good Good Satisfactory Poor Very poor

10.1 x

10.2 x

10.3 x

10.4 x

10.5 x

Best features.............................................................

Most serious problem ..................................................

Suggested improvements ......................................................



In the Appendix 1 you will find comparison between assessements of 2005, 2007 and 2014.



Achievements of the past decade• One of the conclusions drawn in the Audit of 2005 has been fully confirmed, i.e.

that joining NATO and the EU has significantly decreased the influence of negative external factors on the domestic political processes taking place in Latvia.

• Continuous progress is being made in terms of achieving greater openness on the part of the legislator, government and public authorities towards the society.

• Courts in Latvia are independent from interference in administration of justice, and the lengthiness of court proceedings has ceased to be the uncontested weak spot of the entire judicial system. Slowly but surely, the society’s trust in courts is increasing.

• The population in Latvia does not encounter unreasonable restrictions in terms of freedom of assembly and expressing their opinions. This is strengthened by the positive judicial practice in these matters.

• In general, Latvia has strong municipalities which enjoy a comparatively high level of trust from the society, and a wide, active and dynamic spectrum of NGOs.

• During recent years, important steps have been made towards strengthening civic ties with those residents of Latvia who were born in non-citizen families as well as with those who have chosen to leave for Western countries in order to seek a better life.



Failures of the past decade

• Firstly, the disproportionately large socio-economic inequality, which has increased dramatically after the re-instatement of independence and resulted in only a small part of the society being able to fully enjoy the achievements of the Latvian society’s modernization process.

• Secondly, alienation between the holders of power and the general public still exists. Estrangement from democratic institutions is increasing in a significant part of the society.

• Thirdly, the state of Latvia has not succeeded in settling relations between the major ethno-linguistic groups during the last ten years.. Results of the poll also give grounds to claim that the society’s mood in terms of mutual relations between the ethno-linguistic communities is more moderate and aimed towards compromise than the mood existing in the political elite. This, in turn, raises the question of the political elite’s accountability before the public regarding such an ethno-political arrangement in Latvia which would ensure preservation and development of the Latvian culture, simultaneously facilitating civic peace.



The aim of the Human Development Report 2012/2013 "Sustainable Nation" is to evaluate the current development processes in Latvia, paying particular attention to the social dimension of sustainability

• Social sustainability and inequality • Challenges for the sustainability of Latvian pension system• Demographics and poverty in families with children• Sustainable nation and integration of society• Sustainability of democracy and civic participation• Use of information in context of social sustainability• Sustainability of territories: the individual perspective

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Audit of Democracy 2005-2014 How democratic is Latvia? The Audit ‘How Democratic is Latvia’ published in 2005 was the first systemic assessment of democracy