Lithuania The Individual, Society and the State. Social Exclusion

17Chapter 1. The Individual, Society and the State. Social Exclusion

The twin challenges of transition: responsibility foroneself and for the state. In 1990, when Lithuanian citizensdemonstrated their intention to build a free and open societybased on the supremacy of law and democratic principles,they simultaneously undertook the responsibility for both theirpersonal lives and the restoration and strengthening of thestate. People were ready to overcome the legal, political andsocial legacy of a totalitarian society and face the difficulties oftransition. Nevertheless, it has now become clear that socialprocesses are developing at a muchmore rapid pace than the humanmentality is able to adjust itself to newvalues and lifestyles. This stimulatespsychological instability, social disinte-gration and legal nihilism in society.Many problems in contemporaryLithuanian society arise from the factthat the relationship between the indi-vidual and the state is changing fun-damentally. The supremacy of the state during the Soviet peri-od is being replaced by the supremacy of the individual.

Facing previously unknown problems and being unableand sometimes unwilling to solve them, the individual turnsto the elected authority, shifting personal responsibility(sometimes excessively or disproportionately) to the state.

Nevertheless, today the image of a benevolent state look-ing after everybody’s interests with equity and justice hasbeen consigned to the past. It is important to recognize thatthe way in which people build their lives depends on many cir-cumstances over which they may have no control. For exam-ple, children who are not attending school and who are nottaught any skills are deprived of manychoices and opportunities for theirfuture lives. And those people whohave no access to information haveno opportunities to make decisions.On the one hand, an individual has totake responsibility for many aspects ofhis own life becoming a decisive fac-tor in choosing one mode of life or

another. On the other, the state should broaden ‘positive’choices and support an individual by ensuring principles ofequality in basic human rights and access to opportunities.

Nevertheless there is a gap between proclaimed princi-ples and the possibilities of adhering to them, which widensparticularly in times of deep transformation. The LithuanianConstitution ensures equal rights for everyone, but at thesame time the state is not always capable of providing thenecessary conditions for exercising these rights. In this way,the grounds for social conflict appear. For example, the risein crime threatens individuals’ right to personal security, thevolatility of the economy and labour market causes unem-ployment, a low standard of living often undermines the rightto education, a quality health service, adequate housing,freedom to travel and the choice of a place of residence.

Rights and social exclusion. Lithuania has alreadypassed the first two stages of transition - the dismantling ofauthoritarian rule and transitional democratisation - and hasalready stepped into the third stage: democratic consolida-tion. In the stage of democratic consolidation particularimportance is attached to safeguarding human rights. In1998 we have been commemorating the 50th anniversary of

the Universal Declaration of HumanRights adopted by the UnitedNations, which Lithuania as an inde-pendent state joined in 1991. Thereis an important task for this newlyrestored republic, still struggling toestablish itself and be recognisedwithin the international community, toprotect the entire range of humanrights outlined by the Declaration as

well as to further develop the idea of human rights. The traditional view limits human rights to civil and polit-

ical rights, among which the rights of the ‘first generation’are: the right to life, liberty and security; the right not be dis-criminated against on the basis of race, colour, gender, lan-guage, religion, social class or political opinion; the right tovote, freedom of speech and freedom of the press; the rightto be free from the arbitrary invasion of privacy, and legalrights (the due process of law and the presumption of inno-cence until proven guilty). Today the traditional view ofhuman rights is being expanded and the developed democ-racies have already complemented fundamental civil and

political rights with the rights of thenext generation, which include cru-cial social, economic and culturalrights: the right to an adequate stan-dard of living; to education; the rightto work and to equal remunerationfor equal work; and the right ofminorities to enjoy their own culture,religion and language. Of particular

Many problems in contem-porary Lithuanian societyarise from the fact that therelationship between theindividual and the state ischanging fundamentally.

The Lithuanian Constitutionensures equal rights foreveryone, but at the sametime the state is not alwayscapable of providing thenecessary conditions forexercising these rights.

THE INDIVIDUAL, SOCIETY AND THE STATE.SOCIAL EXCLUSION

Irena Zaleskienò

1

importance is that the ‘second generation of rights’ paysattention to the gender dimension of rights and advancementfor disadvantaged groups. It is obvious that the developmentof human rights is directed towards the elimination of socialexclusion and the strengthening of social cohesion in society.

Today, after experiencing almost half a century of totalitar-ianism the Lithuanian people can freelyand fully exercise their fundamentalpolitical and civil rights. Nevertheless,not all fundamental rights are equallyassured, while the above mentionedsecond generation of rights are still tak-ing up their position. If there has beenan obvious breakthrough in restoringdemocracy and political rights, relative-

ly less success has been achieved in the field of rights to eco-nomic and personal security. Although basic economic rightssuch as the right to a minimum income and to social securityare guaranteed, people are still not adequately protectedagainst homelessness, unemployment and poverty. Access toquality health care and education depends on living standards

and place of residence (there are widegaps between the quality of life in thecities, rural areas and small towns). Thegrowing crime rate also underminesthe right to a secure life.

Lithuania is now in a phase of re-distributing its national wealth. Thisprocess is being accompanied by arapid stratification in society, and alsoby emerging new social actors (fromlandowners, enterpreneurs and theself-employed, to the long-termunemployed, the homeless and beg-gars) as these divide society and bringincreasing social exclusion.

Although social exclusion is acomplex phenomenon which is noteasy measurable, the judgement that itis growing rapidly can be confirmed byone of the most indicative (and in asense cumulative) indicators of socialexclusion - the suicide rate, which isalready highest in Europe. Most alarm-ing is that suicide among disadvan-taged groups (such as women, youngpeople, the elderly, rural residents) isgrowing at an accelerating rate.

The nature of social exclu-sion under transition. In a broadsense, social exclusion can bedefined as involuntary alienationfrom social and economic assets. Itis in fact a relative and multi-dimen-sional phenomenon, which is simul-taneously a characteristic of societyand the attribute of an individual.Social exclusion differs in form andseverity from the loss of previouslyacquired rights or social positions(scientists, technicians) to the com-plete destruction of social ties (thehomeless, beggars). Here we willexamine social exclusion throughthe prism of the rights of citizenship,in their broadest sense, as a combi-nation of political, social and eco-nomic rights. A rights-focused

18 Chapter 1. The Individual, Society and the State. Social Exclusion

If there is an obvious break-through in restoring democ-racy and political rights, rel-atively less success hasbeen achieved in the field ofeconomic and personalsecurity rights.

“ALL RIGHTS FOR ALL”“... Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable

rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, jus-tice and peace in the world.” (from the Preamble to the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights)

According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the followingare the most important human rights:

•Everyone has the right to life, liberty and personal security.•All are equal before the law and are entitled without discrimination to

equal protection under the law.•No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.•Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence with-

in the borders of each state.•Everyone has the right to his own property as well as that in associ-

ation with others. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.•Everyone has the right to freedom of conscience and religion, of

peaceful assembly and association.•Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country,

either directly or through freely chosen representatives.•Everyone has the right to equal access to public services in his coun-

try.•Everyone as a member of society has the right to social security.

Economic, social and cultural rights are indispensable for his dignity andfor the free development of his personality.

•Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment and toequal pay for equal work.

•Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limi-tation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

•Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the healthand well-being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing,medical care and the necessary social services.

•Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at leastin the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall becompulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made general-ly available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on thebasis of merit.


approach allows for the examinationof factors determining involuntaryrestrictions in certain groups of peo-ple exercising these rights. The rea-sons for these restrictions may be ofa personal and / or societal nature.

•An individual may not consider himself a part of soci-ety for personal, psychological, cultural and economic rea-sons. This means that such people experience a weak rela-tionship with society. They may lack ties to the family, to thelocal community. They may also be disadvantaged in termsof their ability to realise their legal rights, and to establish andmaintain social contacts. With a growing number of peoplewho are unable to overcome the process of social exclusion,a group of marginalised individuals can be formed who maybecome excluded from society on a long-term basis or evenpermanently.

•Society itself preconditions the situation where individ-uals and groups of people (national minorities, religiousgroups, illegal immigrants, displaced persons, convicts andex-convicts, the unemployed, the homeless) feel they areisolated due to historical, political, cultural and social rea-sons and that society is disrespectful of their needs, inter-ests and aspirations. Often (particularly in times of econom-ic recession or deep social transformation), large groups ofsuch people may appear among the population such aspensioners, women, single parent families and so on,whose social status and habitual modes of life have crum-bled overnight. Society is divided into groups organisedaround different rules, institutions and interests which pro-

duce different incentives and disin-centives. Social exclusion becomesthe property of society if racial, sexu-al and other forms of discriminationare presented, as well as whensources of livelihood and public ser-

vices are segmented and inaccessible on equal terms.These reasons may give rise to individual incentives as wellas cause disillusionment. The most vivid example of theinter-relationship between personal and societal causes ofsocial exclusion could be the problems of suicide and alco-holism which both have deep personal and social roots.

Factors affecting social exclusion in Lithuania.Over the last decade, the process of social exclusion and,consequently, the structure of society have been fundamen-tally affected by the following groups of factors, including legal-political, socio-economic, cultural and psychological:

Legal and political factors. In Soviet times social exclu-sion was mainly conditioned by legal and political factors. Atthat time Lithuania’s citizens had only declared politicalrights, while the state regulated even private life. Therefore,people did not have to undertake any responsibility for theirfuture or for the present. There was the threat of being per-secuted for political reasons and there were few possibilitiesto exercise legal rights, but there was less of a threat ofunemployment and homelessness. In addition there wasguaranteed free health care, which included regular masspreventive medical examinations of the population and thevaccination of children against dangerous diseases.Education from basic to tertiary was also free. Particular

attention was paid to children’s edu-cation. Parents were responsible forthis and the state strictly saw to itthat all children were enrolled.

On the other hand, society as awhole was isolated (in a sense social-ly excluded) from the world communi-ty, while within it numerous obstacles,restricted personal freedoms, andpossibilities for self-expression andincentives were erected. Among thelarger population groups, rural resi-dents were the worst affected interms of social exclusion by the total-itarian state: all socio-economic poli-cy was based on the ideology of thesuperiority of industry and the sec-ond-rate role played by agriculture.Consequently the incomes and quali-ty of life of those employed in agricul-ture were lower than for people livingand working in the cities. Dissidentswho opposed the communist ideolo-

In a broad sense, socialexclusion can be defined asinvoluntary alienation fromsocial and economic assets.

A characteristic feature of every society is that for certain reasons some peo-ple feel as though they have been, or in fact are, excluded from the society theylive in. The term ‘social exclusion’ is used to describe this phenomenon. Socialexclusion has always existed, although its manifestations, scope and conse-quences are different.

Theoretically, a modern social conflict can sometimes become identified withsocial exclusion, particularly during periods of political and social change, whenhabitual social relationships and norms deteriorate and an individual is no longercapable of adjusting himself to the newly established social values owing to hissocial status. Here the emphasis is placed on the situation where people formal-ly have all civil rights but have no opportunity, or have lost the opportunity, to exer-cise them. On the other hand, the new phenomenon of the ‘fall of a cultural struc-ture’ has appeared in modern social theory (Durkheim, Merton, 1994), and isattributed to the specific features of a modern society. For example, young peo-ple are taught to strive for a career with all their patience and through educationand diligent work. In times of change and instability the chances of getting richquickly involve young people in risky and even illegal activities which may bearfruit for few and disappointment for many. Consequently, the disappointed mayfind themselves marginalised and join the ‘underclass’ or become drug-addicts,alcoholics or criminals. For such people this may mean a disruption of links withfamily, friends, the public and sometimes even with the nation and state.

gy were persecuted and often could not find work which cor-responded to their education. So while officially possessingevery right, these people were in fact socially excluded.

In today’s Lithuania the role of political and legal factorsin social exclusion have diminished and altered (comparedto the Soviet period). Immediately after the restoration ofindependence the new Constitution, along with a numberof laws, was adopted to protect human rights in line withWestern democracies. Society has therefore become openand noticeably more democratic. However, the presentstage in the development of Lithuanian society allows oneto ascertain that in reality not everybody can exercise hisconstitutional rights.

Sometimes, exercising one’s political and cultural rightsthrows up certain obstacles, despite the fact that theserights are backed up constitutionally as well as by ordinarylaws. In Lithuania this is mainly related not to obstaclesdeliberately erected by the state (though there are still manyunsolved problems in the sphere of law and order), but todrastic changes and economic difficulties in this transitionalperiod. For example, Lithuania has achieved more progressin ensuring the rights of minorities than neighbouring Latviaand Estonia, which is conducive to social cohesion.Immediately after the restoration of independence, citizen-ship rights were granted to all permanent residents insidethe country irrespective of their nationality and length of res-idence. Consequently, the constitu-tional right to elect and to be electedis accessible to all those whoreceived Lithuanian citizenship.Meanwhile, on the basis of morerestrictive citizenship laws in Latviaand Estonia, almost half of the pop-ulations of the other two Baltic stateshave no citizenship and, as a result,no right to vote and can to someextent be considered socially excluded.

A no less important issue is the right to education inone’s native language. In Lithuania the law incorporatesand ensures these rights. In 1997 and 1998 there weresecondary schools in the following languages of instruc-tion: Russian, Polish, Belarusian, Hebrew (since 1989),German and Ukrainian (at the first grade in a state sec-ondary school). There are special programmes sponsoredby the Government in the field of education for minorities:the Prospective Programme forAcquiring Secondary, Vocationaland Higher Education for NationalMinorities residing in Lithuaniabefore the year 2000, and theProgramme on the Training ofTeachers for the EducationalEstablishments of National

Minorities by the year 2000. In 1998, 56 periodicals werebeing issued in the languages of national minorities. Statetelevision broadcasts daily news programmes and a week-ly programme in Russian and Polish. What is important isthat there is no intention to restrict or even abolish educa-tion in minority languages, an action which would be con-sidered to encroach on fundamental human rights.

Another example is related to children’s rights. Forexample, not every child of school age can exercise his orher right to education. More than 20,000 children do notattend school, for reasons mainly related to their parents’social status, the family’s living standards, or to being anorphan. Such children have every chance of becomingsocially disadvantaged or even marginalised in the future.The right to social security in old age can also be underquestion if pensions are not always enough to satisfy eventhe most essential needs, let alone to allow for a life worthliving. One more controversial constitutional right is the rightto a free higher education for diligent students. For example,students at Vilnius University who have an average of eightpoints (out of ten) which is rather high must pay for theirstudies. Some more examples can be given to demonstratethe deviation between the legalisation of rights and the actu-al opportunity to exercise them. The right to employment isundermined not only by unemployment but by the widequalitative erosion of employment, when many people

(almost 14% of the labour force)accept unsafe employment in termsof income and social insurance.Although people formally have theright to housing, thousands of fami-lies have no accommodation of theirown and many people are homeless.

Socio-economic factors. Ifbefore the restoration of indepen-dence social exclusion had mostly

been preconditioned by political and legal factors, then nowthe main impact is being made by socio-economic factors.During a period of deep transformation large groups of thepopulation may suddenly find themselves socially excludedbecause of their nationality, age, gender, education, occu-pation, income or beliefs. For example, with the collapse ofthe Soviet economy many people with certain occupationsbecame unemployed. With the adoption of the Law on theState Language speakers of other languages have faced

obstacles in employment and every-day life. The majority of those newlyexcluded people who have becomeunemployed, and who are withoutfluent command of the state lan-guage, particularly if they are in theirfifties, experience severe difficultiesin integrating into society.


More than 20,000 childrendo not attend school, forreasons mainly related totheir parents’ social status,the family’s living standards,or to being an orphan.

Lithuania has achievedmore progress in ensuringthe rights of minoritiesthan neighbouring Latviaand Estonia, which is con-ducive to social cohesion.

When analysing social exclusion in modern society,we most often face the problem of insufficient attentionbeing given by society and the state to safeguardingsocio-economic rights and the principle of equality. Socialexclusion in transitional Lithuania is mainly related to:

•living standards. Low incomes and poverty inLithuania (including employment-related poverty) act as abarrier to the realisation of citizenship rights and do notallow a meaningful life to be led within the values acceptedby society. The adverse patterns of consumption provideevidence that people (particularly the poorest) spend theirincomes mainly on food and utilities while expenture onhealth, education, recreation are culture are disproportion-ately low (particularly compared toEU standards). Among poverty-prone groups in the population arefamilies with small children, pension-ers and the unemployed, whilepoverty is deeper and more severe insmall towns and rural areas.Moreover, many people who do notbelong to the category of the poor(such as the salaried middle strata:teachers, doctors, scholars...) havesuffered a decline in their standard of living which has affect-ed their habitual way of life and their social behaviour.

•education, employment and occupation. The major-ity of people of working age have acquired their educationduring the period of a planned economy, so today manyof them have no marketable qualifications and areexposed to the risk of open or latent unemployment. Forexample, many scientific and technical workers employedin machine building and electronics, or academics andresearchers, have lost their social status and employ-ment. Unemployment, particularly long-term unemploy-ment, is spreading not only among people whose educa-tion or occupation fails to meet labour demands, butamong young people who have no employment record.The unsafe, low-quality employment which provides alivelihood for so many people exposes them to socialrisks related to old age, unemployment and sickness. Itdooms many to social exclusion in the future. The prob-lem of basic education for children deserves a separatemention. As indicated above, drop-outs are certainly agroup at high risk from social exclusion.

•place of residence. Contrary to urban residents, theexclusion of the rural population hasa long history and a very broadnature. The primitive technologyused in agriculture, scarce jobopportunities and poor transportand communications have led to asituation where the majority of the

rural population has for decades been excluded from allthe comforts of modern life, from a lack of modern domes-tic facilities to limited access to health care, education,employment, culture and entertainment. Social exclusion inrural areas has intensified under transition. Social exclusionis significantly influenced not only by the low quality of rurallife itself but by the wide gaps between the quality of life inthe cities, small towns and rural areas. Many human devel-opment indicators confirm this. Mortality and morbidity(particularly related to non-medical causes of death andsocial disease) in rural areas exceeds that of urban areas(taking into account the age differences in the population).As was mentioned above, the rural poverty level exceeds

the urban one. Rural poverty is moresevere, and deeper. Unemploymentis also higher in rural areas.

•age. Age-related social exclu-sion is most acute regarding chil-dren and their rights (since childrenare very often unable to control orinfluence those circumstanceswhich are ‘laying the foundations’ fortheir social exclusion). The followingindicators and manifestations are

indicative of the alarming situation concerning the violationof children’s rights which may lead to their social exclusion:the growing number of foster children and orphans; thefact that children often fall victim to poverty, since familieswith small children belong to those groups vulnerable topoverty; the number of children dropping out of elementaryschool; and the alarmingly rising rate of juvenile delinquen-cy. Juvenile delinquency not only keeps to its obvious ten-dency to increase; minors are committing more and moreserious crimes. The problems involving such childrenremain acute despite the fact that many efforts are beingmade for the legal and institutional protection of children’srights. Issues related to this problem are being addressedby several institutions (including NGOs). The establishmentof an institution for an Ombudsman for the rights of thechild is currently under discussion. A Service for theProtection of the Rights of the Child was set up within theMinistry of Social Security and Labour. This institution isdirectly responsible for the organisation, control and super-vision of the enforcement of laws and norms regulatingchildren’s rights. In 1996, the Children’s AffairsConsultative Council was set up under the office of the

President, and a Commission ofFamily and Child Affairs was estab-lished under Parliament in 1997.Similar services function in the vari-ous cities and regions of Lithuania.Important steps were made in thedirection of social integration for


If before the restoration ofindependence social exclu-sion had mostly been pre-conditioned by political andlegal factors, then now themain impact is being madeby socio-economic factors.

Social exclusion in ruralareas has intensified undertransition. Many humandevelopment indicatorsconfirm this.

children who have already suffered from social exclusionand other unfavourable circumstances. Yet in 1995 theGeneral Statute of Non-Governmental Child Care Homesand a Provisional Statute for Special Education and CareHomes for Children were adopted. These provided thebasis for numerous child care institutions to be established,including those of a new type - Family Care Homes whichresemble as closely as possible the environment of thefamily. The NGO ‘Save the Children’ collects information onthe situation in the field of children’s rights and this infor-mation is often more accurate and objective than officialsources.

•gender. The Lithuanian Constitution and Lithu-anian laws (including those which regulate labour rela-tions) provide for equal rights between men andwomen. The legal system has failed to formulate anofficial definition of discrimination against women. Inreality, women face hidden discrimination. For exam-ple, despite the fact that women dominate amongpeople with higher education, they still face discrimina-tion when certain faculties in higher education institu-tions almost openly demonstrate their preference tomen in entry competitions. In 1997 1,789 women and3,706 men were scholars, out of whom 110 womenand 658 men held doctor habilities, of which 488 menand only 54 women held the aca-demic degree of a professor. Themost common notion of discrimi-nation in the labour market relatesto recruitment practices whenpreference is given to men, and‘redundancies’ to women (it isusually the case that women losetheir jobs first). A persistent formof labour market disadvantage for women lies in thepattern of occupational segregation; women make upa minority among supervisory managerial groups,which severely undermines their participation in deci-sion making. There is only one woman in the currentcabinet - the Minister of Social Security and Labour.Out of 1,459 members of local government councils,325 are women (21.9%). Out of 56 mayors there areonly two women (3.6%). In May 1997 36% of totaldiplomatic service personnel were women. Finally,women are disadvantaged in terms of wages andearnings, on average earning approximately 1.5 timesless than men do. Perils for female employment couldlie ahead since women face a double challenge com-bining a workload related to their family and a career.Women become the victims of domestic violencemore often than men. Today, trafficking in women andforced prostitution are acute problems. This allowsthe assumption that in certain cases women in

Lithuanian society could be added to those groups athigh risk from social exclusion. In addition, publicopinion polls carried out by the Gallup Institute in1996 show that 48% of the population (39% of menand 56% of women) think that society gives its pref-erences to men; 57% of the population are of theopinion that professional opportunities for men arebetter those for women.

•••

To sum up, it should be mentioned that to conform withthe nature of transition and social relationships in Lithuania,a different ‘weight’ should be attached to the above factors.Social exclusion in terms of scope is determined more bylow standards of living and poverty, deprivation associatedwith latent, open and long-term unemployment and by thedifferences in the quality of life between the cities, townsand rural areas.

The underclass. There has still been no statistical orempirical investigation into the so-called underclass, whichis made up of those who are marginalised completely(chronic alcoholics, drug-addicts, people with psychologi-cal problems, ex-convicts who fail to integrate into society,the homeless). Nevertheless, indirect data (mostly based

on opinions and assessments) pro-vided by municipalities and socialassistance units give plenty of evi-dence that the number of such peo-ple has almost doubled over the lastfive to seven years. To them, socialsecurity, charity and even emer-gency medical assistance arealmost inaccessible. Certain occa-

sional assistance is sometimes provided by municipalities.However, no uniform social protection policy for these peo-ple has as yet been developed.

How the individual, society and the state chal-lenge social exclusion. The state tends to be a key insti-tution on which both the existence and patterns of socialexclusion, as well as the conditions for social integration, toa great extent depend. Besides such an important thing asproviding education, health care, income-earning opportu-nities and personal security, social exclusion also dependson how the state takes care of the psychological well-beingof its people, on conditions for participation in civil societyand the public awareness of human rights.

As mentioned above, social exclusion is quite relative:even cases where an individual seems to exclude himselffrom society can be treated as the result of an insufficientsocial policy. International experience gives evidence thatsocial exclusion is characteristic not only of developing ortransitional economies, but also of mature industrialised


Women make up a minorityamong supervisory manage-rial groups, which severelyundermines their participa-tion in decision making.

economies. The upsurge of social exclusion in this transi-tional period becomes the problem of the state, whichrequires the urgent attention of policy makers. The role ofthe state in reducing social exclusion in essence dependsnot only on a policy of income distribution, social securityand law and order, but also on the ability to integrate prin-ciples of sustainable human development into its develop-ment strategy. In other words, the state’s rules and institu-tions should be aimed at building a ‘society for everybody’,where diversity of choice is combined with equality ofaccess to important human development opportunities andobeying the law. The success of this task will very muchdepend on the ability of the state to establish a constructiveand confident dialogue with individuals. In this respect, inte-grated programmes and projects combining the efforts ofindividuals and civil society should be encouraged and sup-ported by the state, aiming at the psychological and socialconsolidation of society; strengthening personal security,and law and order; stimulating participation; and supportingemployment and meaningful leisure.Such programmes would become adecisive factor in, and would exert aprofound influence on, social inte-gration in society.

Education on human rights isbecoming vitally important, sinceknowledge inherited from the Sovietperiod on this issue is insufficient.

Particularly important is human rights education at thebasic school level, since this is what will empower thecoming generations. Human rights topics have alreadybeen incorporated into the Basic Programmes ofEducation, in the subjects of civil education, history andethics. It is very important to chose the right angle for thepresentation of human rights-related problems, avoidingpoliticisation and a biased, ‘pro-government or pro-rulingparty’ approach.

The institution-building capacity for the protection ofhuman rights is also one of the important activities of thestate, indirectly related to reducing social exclusion.

Although the institutions of a civil society cannotreplace the state, their mutually reinforcing efforts, partic-ularly in the situation of a non-universal (unequal) enforce-ment of citizenship rights, can help to break exclusion.Both the relationship between an individual and the stateand the formation of a civil society depend on an individ-ual’s participation in governance, decision-making and

solving pressing social problems.Moreover, in the opinion of psy-chologists, the general psychologi-cal climate in society, people’sbeliefs in the success of reforms,and confidence in one’s own capa-bilities and those of public institu-tions exert a profound influence onparticipation, and reduce socialexclusion.

In 1998 the first investigationsinto NGOs, commissioned andfinanced by the US Agency forInternational Development, were car-ried out in Lithuania (an opinion polland survey of 50 NGOs). Analysingthe participation of citizens in theiractivities from the point of view ofreducing social exclusion, severalimportant findings may be empha-sised: who participates in NGOs;which NGOs are known to theLithuanian people; whether theseorganisations are supported finan-cially by the population; and whichpopulation groups make use ofthose services provided by NGOs:

•Participation: only 9% of thepopulation indicated that theybelong to some sort of organisation.A similar situation can be observedin other transitional societies, whilein mature democracies this propor-tion reaches 70%.


Districts Kaunas ·iauliai Vilnius Visaginas

asocial families 2000 350 568 49

people without permanent residence 500 60 150 45

foster children and teenagers 294 570 563

people forced to beg 10 130 116

people who have chosen to beg 90 120 116

drug-addicts 129 958 94

others 108 160 9100 47

people in abandoned flats 23 20 76 30

Marginalised people in selected cities*

*Aggregated information submitted by municipalities

The state tends to be a keyinstitution on which boththe existence and patternsof social exclusion, as wellas the conditions for socialintegration, to a greatextent depend.

Despite the difficulties of economic transition, people generally share apositive view of the market economy. Data from ‘Baltijos tyrimai’ (BalticSurveys; autumn 1997) showed that 68% of adult respondents approved ofthe development to a market economy, and that only 26% were of theopposite opinion (Lithuanian Barometer, ‘Baltijos tyrimai,’ Autumn 1997).The most active section of the population still gives preference to the accel-eration of reforms, but people aged over 50, particularly pensioners, thinkthat the economy should not be reformed at such a rapid pace.

•Which NGOs are known topeople: it is clear that it is only theseorganisations which can exert anyinfluence upon society. It is interest-ing to note that 64% of the popula-tion know at least one NGO. Havingmade a more detailed analysis of which NGOs are knownto the respondents, one can draw the conclusion that themajority are familiar with those NGOs dealing with socialproblems (Caritas, SOS Children), and cultural and edu-cational organisations (such as the Association of Artists,or the Open Society Fund - Lithuania).

•Financial support, and making use of services pro-vided by NGOs: the survey data show that 14% of thepopulation have provided financial support to NGOsduring the last eight years (3% of respondents did notremember having done that). As little as 13% of respon-dents make use of the services provided by NGOs (4%did not remember).

A qualitative analysis of NGO activity shows thattrends in rendering social services and those for repre-senting interests are inversely proportional. This meansthat the more services are provided to a certain groupthe less its interests are represented. Nevertheless, it

has been noticed that providing services to institutionsor, for example, businessmen, is not as important tothem as representing their interests and protecting theirrights. Socially deprived people, young people andwomen find both social services rendered and the pro-tection of their interests and rights equally important. Inanalysing the extent of the educational activity of NGOsit becomes clear that fewer educational services arerendered to socially deprived people. The conclusioncan be drawn that NGOs tend to provide specific ser-vices rather than empower people, creating the condi-tions for them to change the situation by themselves. Inour opinion this attitude should be changed in essencetowards empowerment, which will be conducive tosocial cohesion.

Participation in political parties and elections and theinfluence of this on social cohesion deserves a separatemention. Over the last decade the decrease in citizens’participation in political parties and in elections has beenobserved in society. Currently, 2-4% of the populationare members of political parties. On the one hand, thiscan be explained by the fact that the individual’s inter-est in politics most often depends on the real possibility

of influencing political decisions.At the beginning of the restorationof statehood many peoplebelieved that such a personalinfluence could be achieved.Some wanted to try politics out forthemselves. However, with thestabilisation of social and political

life, certain political interests represented by groups ofprofessional politicians have formed, while public inter-est in politics has diminished.

•••

The problem of social exlusion, indeed its very con-cept, is still very new in the Lithuanian context. In actu-al fact there has been no in-depth research conductedinto this problem so far, and consequently no compre-hensive social statistics by which exclusion may bemeasured, as well as the methods for such analysis,have so far been developed. There are, therefore, veryfew publications on the issue. In a sense, this publica-tion is pioneering, aiming at raising the issue of socialexclusion and at suggesting a framework for its futureresearch and conceptualisation.


No. %*

1. Caritas 35

2. Charity Fund 15

3. Society for the Disabled 14

4. Trade Unions 11

5. SOS Children (SOS vaikai) 10

6. Red Cross Society 9

7. Organisation of Social Security 8

8. The Greens 4

9. Sports Club 4

10. ‘Viltis’ (Hope) 4

11. Open Society Fund - Lithuania 4

12. Farmers’ Union 4

13. Association of the Blind 3

14. Children’s’ Aid Fund 3

15. Vytautas Landsbergis Fund 3

16. Society of Environmental Protection 3

17. Society of Political Prisoners and Deportees 3

18. Society of Deportees 3

NGOs mentioned most often

*Percentage calculated from the number of people who indicated atleast one NGO

Fourteen per cent of thepopulation have providedfinancial support to NGOsduring the last eight years.

Documents

Lithuania The Individual, Society and the State. Social Exclusion