Estlands framgångsrika demokrati: Från ett kommunistiskt Sovjetunionen till en konsoliderad liberal demokrati, hur gick det till?

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this thesis has been to explain and investigate Estonia’s democratization by studying the country to find the factors that contributed to the outcome of a democratic state. Estonia gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1992 and quickly transitioned towards a stable democratic state, and 13 years later the country joined the European Union, which proved the ultimate consolidation of democracy. How did Estonia manage to make this transition towards democracy without major difficulties while the geographical context and former states of the Soviet Union, such as Russia and Belarus, became authoritarian states? By using a case study method with a distinct theoretical framework of Larry Diamond’s democratization theory, the thesis came to the result that showed that the internal factors of authoritarian divisions, authoritarian change in attitude, free values and the rise of civil society played a crucial role in democratizing Estonia from within the country itself. While the external factors of diffusion and demonstration effects, peaceful pressure, and democracy assistance also played a role in Estonia’s democratization but that the external factors mainly contributed to the consolidation and strengthening of democracy rather than starting the democratization process. The conclusion of the thesis illustrates that Estonia’s successful democratization and consolidation of democracy can be found and explained by the internal factors that drove the society both at the grassroots level and at the governing level towards democratic development and that the external factors had a decisive effect on strengthening and consolidating the democracy. Democracy is being challenged, even in the western world. Estonia today remains a consolidated democracy.