Public Funding and the Organisational Development of Political Parties in Latvia and Estonia

Project title in Latvian: Publiskais finansējums un partiju organizatoriskā attīstība Latvijā un Igaunijā

Project title in English: Public Funding and the Organisational Development of Political Parties in Latvia and Estonia

Implementation period: 01.09.2024.-28.02.2026.

Funding: 68 917,00 EUR

Project leader (researcher (professor): Jānis Ikstens

Project aim: The aim of this project is to address several gaps in the academic literature on the interaction between party funding regimes and the organisational development of political parties, generating new knowledge about the role of direct public subsidies in the development of political organisations in Latvia and Estonia. The study will employ a most-similar systems design to identify the impact of the 2019 party finance reform in Latvia and to assess the extent of convergence in the trajectories of party organisational development in Latvia and Estonia. The project will result in the production of two articles in peer-reviewed journals and one policy evaluation report, the updating of university teaching content, and the provision of opportunities for advanced-level students to gain research experience by working alongside a more senior scholar.

The project is one of the activities supported under the Recovery and Resilience Facility project ‘Internal and External Consolidation of the University of Latvia’ (No. 5.2.1.1.i.0/2/24/I/CFLA/007).