ABSTRACT

Ethnically divided societies often seek political cohesion by pursuing nationalizing policies. Latvia has had some experience of this, for example, with the notion that citizens should speak the national language and respect government institutions coincides with portrayals of ethnic minorities as a challenge to democracy. The focus on nation-state building has resulted in persistently low levels of political engagement and public confidence among the citizenry. Public survey data shows that many voters believe their concerns have been neglected by elected representatives, who have fixed their attention on ethnopolitical issues. While we see no demonstrable correlation between ethnicity and levels of political dejection, ethnonational politics explains unstable voter-representative relations and electoral volatility during the Saeima elections from 2010–2018. These unanticipated effects of nation-state building on Latvia’s electoral politics invite a rethinking of the relationship between voters and their elected representatives in democratically consolidated, yet divided nations.

摘要

种族分裂的社会往往通过推行国有化政策来寻求政治凝聚力。拉脱维亚在这方面有一些经验，例如，公民应该说本国语言并尊重政府机构的观念与将少数民族描述为对民主的挑战不谋而合。对民族国家建设的关注导致公民的政治参与度和公众信心持续偏低。公开调查数据显示，许多选民认为他们的担忧被民选代表忽视了，他们将注意力集中在民族政治问题上。虽然我们没有看到种族和政治沮丧程度之间有明显的相关性，民族政治解释了 2010 年至 2018 年 Saeima 选举期间不稳定的选民代表关系和选举波动。These unanticipated effects of nation-state building on Latvia's electoral politics invite a rethinking of the relationship between voters and their elected representatives in democratically consolidated, yet divided nations.