
For the first time in Estonia, a party leader’s torch will be passed from father to son this weekend. There is nothing illegal about this, but it is an excellent opportunity to discuss political dynasties in a democracy.
More generally, the informality of the decision-making process is a crucial feature of political dynasties, and this brings with it a number of specific features. By the way, the informality of decision-making is not necessarily a family phenomenon. It can also be linked to a situation in which a person, who is not adequately placed in the decision-making hierarchy, can perform a certain level of functions. An interesting example in this respect is Margaret Thatcher’s press secretary, Bernard Ingham, who was the envy of members of Thatcher’s cabinet because it was by allegation he whom Thatcher listened to for advice on various sectoral policies (Ingham served Thatcher for 11 years and was knighted at the same time as Thatcher resigned).
There are political families in Estonia, but it is questionable whether we can speak of political dynasties in Estonia as in general, in democracy, a political dynasty would require a bloodline of at least three generations. So the Kallas, the Helmets, and the Savisards have another generation to work on. Of course, there are countries where the bar is much higher. For instance, in the United States, there are thought to be four political dynasties in all. These are the Adamses, the Harrisons, the Roosevelts, and the Bushes – all of whom have had at least two presidents in their own families. In American terms, the total number of political dynasties is thought to be around 40, the most famous of which are undoubtedly the Kennedys, the Clintons (Bill Clinton’s uncle was a member of the Arkansas State House of Representatives). Or, for example, the Cheneys, in whose family Dick Cheney is known to have been Bush Jr.’s vice-president and whose daughter is now a member of the US House of Representatives.
As expected, in European terms, political dynasties have a completely different meaning than the countries of South-East Asia, where combating them is, one might say, a discipline in itself. The most striking example is the Philippines. The political environment there is described as being controlled by totally different dynasties, controlled by seven families. This bizarre mix results from a corporatist political culture, widespread corruption, and a highly corporatist social model rooted in the colonial era. The political systems there have gone so far that, in the case of Indonesia (the world’s third-largest democracy), for example, a particular law has been passed banning close relatives of members of parliament from holding any public office for more than four years.
But in general, the emergence of political families is a socio-cultural phenomenon that is relatively fruitless to combat.
But in general, the emergence of political families is a socio-cultural phenomenon that is relatively fruitless to combat.
What causes this phenomenon? In environments where campaigning is extremely expensive, money certainly plays a significant role (USA). In Southeast Asian and Latin American societies, where we are talking about high levels of corruption and caste systems, the problem of hierarchical societies plays a role not only because of money but also because access to public decision-making is minimal. Even everywhere in the European Union, there is a principle that access to public decision-making is better for graduates of specific schools.
In the case of France, for example, it is the alumni of the École Nationale d’administration. A large number of French presidents, including Chirac, Hollande, Macron, and Giscard d’Estaing, not to mention prime ministers, a large number of whom are alumni of this school. Even though France has the most etatist tradition of national governance, educational background is always vital in political dynasties. And, of course, the individual’s brand always plays a major role in politics. In this sense, a person whose surname is, for example, Meri or Rüütel will always have an advantage over someone whose name is, for example, Kuusk or Kask. I know this first-hand, as I was involved in an experiment almost 20 years ago when I was asked to stand as a candidate for one of the first names of the President of the Republic of Estonia, who, without any campaigning, received around 400 votes in local elections.
By the way, there is also a considerable risk with political families – sons and daughters may not always be as successful as their parents.
Ann Hiiemaa: The Customer is the Hero of B2B marketing

Who is the hero in the customer story? Who is the villain? And who are you?
I love people and their stories. One of my favorite movies is Moneyball, which is about baseball and how Oakland A’s coach Billy Beane found a competitive advantage in a non-existent budget by applying an in-depth statistical analysis for team building.
Based on Michael Lewis’ book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, their film uses a classic model found in many other films as well. Such as in The Lord of the Rings, my other big favorite – Forrest Gump, and in films like The King’s Speech, Tenet, James Bond films, and in most fairy tales.
In short, the main character, our hero, wants to achieve something that is very difficult. The moment he almost gives up, the unexpected intervention of a helping hand appears (such as a guide, a music teacher, a muse, a business manager, a communication expert), offers a plan, and supports our hero in fulfilling their goal.
Of course, there is always a villain or an enemy in the story. And, of course, the hero ultimately achieves their goal. Why am I telling this story? Because in B2B communication the key is just the same story.
Key question for B2B communication – who is the Hero?
Donald Miller’s book, Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen, sets out a similar framework for selling your product: there is a hero, a villain, a guide, a plan, Calls To Action, failure, and success.
The story begins with a hero. Companies should always ask: who is the hero for them? And it can never be themselves, but rather it is their customer. The customer must always be at the heart of a B2B brand communication strategy. Focusing on a customer’s needs and desires is crucial.
And the hero can never be companies themselves, but rather it is their customer.
The basic questions to consider are: who is our customer, what are their main challenges and needs, how do they communicate with us, what channels do they use to find solutions to their problems, who is the person they listen to and respect? And, above all, how can our product or service help or support them? Your entire offer must be built on customer challenges and concerns.
What or who is the so-called “villain” for your customer? The problem that is frustrating them? It is not uncommon for a customer to be unable to phrase their problem – there is a pain, but where exactly?
The Guide – that is you
Now the guide comes into the picture, the one who helps the hero (the customer) win their challenge. The guide creates a plan to help the hero achieve their goals. At Meta Advisory, we always build our communication plans based on the customer’s business goals, as the role of the communication is to support business growth.
The guide offers valuable content and tips that help the hero reach a solution. Content creation is based on the journey the customer is facing – from looking for solutions to small victories. Therefore, the most important thing is to map the hero’s journey as accurately as possible.
For B2B companies, the minimum activities are a visually appealing website, strong copy, and a clear message built on the hero’s challenge. The next stage includes, customer stories(testimonials), exceptionally strong management analysis, webinars, field research, podcasting, and white papers – conceptual reports that reveal a specific problem area and the challenge as a whole: why it has been difficult to solve so far, what solutions have been attempted, summaries of specific literature, a new philosophical approach, etc. Once you have your message, you need to be where your customer is and speak to them in a way in which they get your message.
There is a tremendous amount of information available for B2B customers online. The competition for the attention of buyers is tough. Brent Adamson of research firm Gartner wrote, in the first issue of the 2022 Harvard Business Review, that B2B customers spend only 17% of their buying process talking to potential suppliers. All the preliminary work is done internally, by comparing and analyzing easily accessible information.
This 17% portion of time that salespeople have direct contact with the customer, should be used for getting a very simple message to the customer, so that the decision matrix they’ve already created, will generate the result that you are the solution for them.
Brent Adamson’s analysis coincides with what we, marketers, have learned about telling stories and being a guide to the customer. This 17% portion of time that salespeople have direct contact with the customer, should be used for getting a very simple message to the customer, so that the decision matrix they’ve already created, will generate the result that you are the solution for them.
It is important to make it crystal clear to the hero, what your company offers and how it will help them in solving their problems.
Personal branding
In order to be heard, a guide must first establish themselves as an authoritative source, gain an expert image and create common experiences of success, which are the basis for building further trust. People don’t always buy the products or services of the best company. They buy the products and services they understand. And today, they are more willing to buy these products and services from businesses that are well-known in their field and available at the critical moments the customer needs advice or help.
People want to work with otehr people, not companies.
Here, too, communication comes into play. There is a new era in B2B marketing – although most sales contacts are now remote and through electronic channels, paradoxically, so much more human touch is needed in communication. People want to work with other people, not companies. The challenge for the company is to find more people and characters from its teams, including sales teams, to introduce to their customer segments through the company’s own channels and earned media, and to build their marketing communication on real people. Of course, it also supports the pillars of the company’s reputation, and works together with employer branding, etc. Field experts and prominent people help build a strong brand, which in turn helps generate more sales.
Both general media and a company’s own channels must be used here. Today, there are quite a few of those who systematically and consciously build their personal brands on LinkedIn and general media. It also supports one of the most acute challenges for B2B companies today – recruitment.
Miller points out two aspects in his book – success and failure. In other words, what will the life of a hero be if they don’t buy from you, and what will their story be if they do. And we all know that their life would definitely be much more enjoyable if they bought from you.
Social media activism — a lazy or powerful tool?

Social media is a powerful channel that can be used for the benefit of a community. However, this requires a mastery of social media, says Laura Põldma, who studied the role of social media in community activism in her bachelor’s thesis.
- Creating a Facebook group for fighting against the closure of a hospital’s maternity ward and mobilizing a community with 3,000 members.
- Initiating an online petition to prevent the opening of a limestone quarry and the discussion of “a war strategy” in a closed social media group.
- Continuous content creation on the Facebook site of a small school to support the continuation of the school.
These are some examples of community activism in social media, which has been increasingly seen in Estonian public media in recent years. The internet is used not only by mass movements, but also by small community-based movements for whom social media offers the opportunity to express themselves both inside and outside of a local context[i]. The importance of social media as a networking tool is significant from the viewpoint of the internal dynamics of civic associations, as found by Tanel Vallimäe and Peeter Vihma, in an analysis of the results of a study conducted in 2019 by Tallinn University, the Institute of Baltic Studies, and Turu-uuringute AS, for evaluating the situation within Estonian civil society.[ii]
In the eyes of critics, on the other hand, online activism is simply slacktivism, an activity that can make people feel good, but has little effect on political decisions[iii]. So, how can social media activism be dealt with? Is it just an activity that distracts citizens from other, more efficient forms of participation? Or is social media a thermometer that enables the measurement of a community’s mood on a certain moment? And what about the opinion that being primarily active on social media and spreading one’s message there makes an initiative less serious?
In my bachelor’s thesis “The role of social media in community activism on the example of three conflict cases”, I studied the communicative aspects, specifically of the impact of social media on community activism from the point of view of mobilization and influencing activities in three cases: the Põlva Hospital Maternity Ward, the Lüganuse Limestone Quarry, and the Harmi Elementary School Discussions with initiative leaders as well as civil society experts – Hille Hinsberg and Martin Noorkõiv, highlighted several aspects that could help the 21st century activist to understand the role of social media from a mobilization and impact perspective.
Make the community’s opinion visible. Social media gives a community a voice and makes their outrage visible. The leader in one case study found that social media has made civil society more widely perceived, and there are many different opinions in Estonia about how to organize coexistence. The resulting pluralism is good, but there is also a downside in using social media to make resentment visible – the multiplicity of opinions. As one leader put it: when there are so many opinions, people in decisive positions may feel that it is never possible to consider everyone’s opinion. However, this hampers the activities of civil society. In such an increasingly “tight market” traditional methods – both demonstrations with slogans and protest events in Facebook – will eventually devalue.
Converting support to real actions. Social media can be useful for mapping support: one leader felt that Facebook was a kind of score-card or thermometer – as it was not known, at first, whether the community was happy with the respective closure. FB provided excellent input for leaders to understand the mood of the community. At the same time, is it worth paying attention to whether the extent of support and the thousands of members who joined the Facebook group add the actual value to the initiative? How many of those who are active on Facebook, are ready to do something in real life? This question arose for the activists themselves as well. Online activism has been seen as “lazy” activism, which speaks to persons who do not find time to participate actively.[iv]
At the same time, in the case of the Põlva Hospital’s Maternity Ward, it can be seen that activism, in the form of joining the Facebook group, was also expressed in real-life activities. A large number of signatures were collected – over 9,000 – and the collection of signatures on paper was not initiated by the leaders, but by other members of the community. In conclusion, it all depends on what other methods are used – combining different channels may help compensate the negative aspects of another. But you should compare comparable things. Many people, who are activists in social media, did absolutely nothing for the community in the past.[v] So, online activism is still better than no participation at all.
The digital gap in the digital country. Social networks include the risk of exacerbating inequalities if social media users tend to be more technologically skilled and have a higher level of human, social, and economic capital.[vi] It is worth noting that if an initiative is only active on social media, it may exclude part of a community from the debate. Be it older people or those who have consciously chosen to stay away from social media.
At the same time, one may ask whether Estonia, which is (according to the 2019 report of the European Center for Policy Studies) the highest-ranked country in the European Union in terms of digital learning and has a high level of computer literacy[vii], should worry about the digital gap at all? Although the problem may not be as great as in other countries, it is reasonable to consider that certain groups are more difficult to reach through online channels. Consequently, the combination of different channels and tools is also relevant in the context of the digital gap. In addition to creating a Facebook group, you should also bring your messages to the media, organize face-to-face events and, if necessary, establish direct contacts.
The issue of credibility. If an activity is only taking place in social media, its influence diminishes and decision-makers may think: “let them discuss it somewhere on their own and live out their resentment, life goes on”. Indeed: do decision-makers perceive a discussion in a Facebook group as equivalent to, for example, an editorial in an all-Estonian daily newspaper or a face-to-face meeting? There is no risk of social media not being taken seriously – the channel itself matters less than whether the message is “highlighted” in the channel, and whether the platform is right for spreading that particular message, i.e., the general ability to format and package the message. [viii] The impact of a media article can sometimes be much smaller than that of a social media posting, and a large number of voters in a group is much more influential for decision-makers.[ix]
Lack of social media competence and poor division of roles. As mentioned, social media gives communities a voice. However, not everyone’s opinion is always constructive. If the use of social media is unreasoned with several members of the community making random postings, it may not leave the best impression about the initiative. It is not necessary to censor, but a prerequisite for the successful operation of social media is a well-thought division of roles. It is certainly worthwhile to observe the experiences and journeys of other communities, as this can provide important knowledge.
Echo chamber effect. In conflicting cases of community activism, how the activists perceive the counterparts, their opinions, and arguments is important. Unfortunately, the features of social media (such as the ease of removing people from your friends list) encourage the emergence of echo chambers.[x] The “common reality” becomes socially validated in the echo chamber and can strengthen people’s world views. [xi] An explicit worldview and passion for a topic also tend to be expressed in more active, and often more emotional, speech. Although heated debates help to mobilize people, public debates are increasingly too emotional, leading to polarization and to not pursuing the long-term goals of defending the interests of communities.[xii]
In the context of influencing and the echo chamber effect, it is important to understand community awareness of how what decisions are made – and what is the vision of other stakeholders, including decision-makers – directly affects the success of protection of interests. A situation can easily arise, in an echo chamber, wherein excessive emotionality hinders the formation of constructive argumentation, and therefore directly prevents successful participation in the discussion. A situation should be avoided where officials make decisions based on economic considerations but are hit by activists with very different “sticks”. The degree of emotionality should depend on the goal of the community: for organising a great popular movement it can be efficient, but overly aggressive action can make politicians angry and work against the community.[xiii]
The spiral of silence. According to the spiral of silence theory, people censor opinions that they assume are unpopular.[xiv] It is clear that the wider the message of a community is, the more people fit under that wider message. By becoming too polarized and extreme (facilitated by the echo chamber effect) a community may lose members, as common ground becomes smaller and smaller. At the same time, it has been pointed out that due to the disappearance of walls around social environments, every narrator must consider whether they either insult someone or smooth their message to a degree that it is no longer attractive to anyone.[xv] Here, each community must find the right balance – to involve as many from the community as possible, but without losing its uniqueness.
Laura Põldma defended her bachelor’s thesis “The role of social media in community activism on the example of three conflict cases” this year at the University of Tartu. The full paper is available in the UT Digital Archive DSpace.
[i] Ruiu, M., Ragnedda, M. (2017). Empowering local communities through collective grassroots actions: The case of “No Al Progetto Eleonora” in the Arborea District (OR, Sardinia). The Communication Review, 20(1), pg. 51. https://doi.org/10.1080/10714421.2016.127227
[ii] Vallimäe, P., Vihma, T. (2019). Eesti mittetulundusühingud ja koostöö. Riigikogu toimetised, 40, pg. 185. https://rito.riigikogu.ee/nr-40/eesti-mittetulundusuhingud-ja-koostoo/
[iii] Christensen, H. S. (2011). Political activities on the Internet: Slacktivism or political participation by other means. First Monday, 16(2), pg. 9. https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v16i2.3336
[iv] Cammaerts, B. (2015). Social media and activism. R. Mansell, P. Hwa (toim). The International Encyclopedia of Digital Communication and Society, pg. 7. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/62090/1/Social_media_and.pdf
[v] Noorkõiv, M. (2021). Author’s interview in the framework of a bachelor’s thesis.
[vi] Valenzuela, S., Arriagada, A., Scherman, A. (2012). The Social Media Basis of Youth Protest Behavior: The Case of Chile. Journal of Communication, 62(2), pg. 13. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01635.x
[vii] Eesti on kõige digiõpihimulisem riik Euroopas. (2019). HITSA, 11. December. Kasutatud 02.02.2020, https://www.hitsa.ee/uudised-1/eesti-on-koige-digiopihimulisem-riik-euroopas
[viii] Hinsberg, H. (2020). Author’s interview in the framework of a bachelor’s thesis.
[ix] Noorkõiv, M. (2021). Author’s interview in the framework of a bachelor’s thesis.
[x] Greijdanus, H., Fernandes, C. A., Turner-Zwinkels, F., Honari, A., Roos, C.A., Rosenbusch, H., Postmes, T. (2020). The psychology of online activism and social movements: relations between online and offline collective action. Current Opinion in Psychology, 35, pg. 50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2020.03.003
[xi] Greijdanus, H., Fernandes, C. A., Turner-Zwinkels, F., Honari, A., Roos, C.A., Rosenbusch, H., Postmes, T. (2020). The psychology of online activism and social movements: relations between online and offline collective action. Current Opinion in Psychology, 35, pg. 50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2020.03.003
[xii][xii] Vallimäe, P., Vihma, T. (2019). Eesti mittetulundusühingud ja koostöö. Riigikogu toimetised, 40, pg. 182. https://rito.riigikogu.ee/nr-40/eesti-mittetulundusuhingud-ja-koostoo/
[xiii] Hinsberg, H., Noorkõiv, M. (2021). Author’s interviews in the framework of a bachelor’s thesis.
[xiv] Greijdanus, H., Fernandes, C. A., Turner-Zwinkels, F., Honari, A., Roos, C.A., Rosenbusch, H., Postmes, T. (2020). The psychology of online activism and social movements: relations between online and offline collective action. Current Opinion in Psychology, 35, pg. 50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2020.03.003
[xv] Viik, K. (2019). Konteksti häving sotsiaalmeedias. Postimees, 17. October. Used 11.01.2020, https://kultuur.err.ee/992749/kadi-viik-konteksti-having-sotsiaalmeedias
META insights on Estonian local elections 2021

It is clear that the power dynamics in Estonian politics are changing, with the Centre Party’s strategy needing revision.
Estonia held its local elections with the final day of voting taking place on October 17th and with more than 1000 councillors elected in 79 municipalities. These were one of the most significant local elections in recent history as the ruling party in Tallinn, the Centre Party (ALDE), lost its hold on the city council for the first time in more than a decade, having been kept short of the absolute majority of 40 seats in the 79-seat chamber. How will this exactly affect national politics – and especially the current coalition government between the centre-right Reform Party (ALDE) and the centre-left Centre Party – is to be seen in the coming weeks.
These were one of the most significant local elections in recent history as the ruling party (ALDE) lost its hold on the city council for the first time in more than a decade.
However, coupled with the Centre Party’s clear loss in their second key constituency of Narva, with also disappointing results in the cities of Tartu and Pärnu, the future of the Centre Party’s leadership might be contested, with ramifications in national politics. The former prime minister Jüri Ratas, also the chairman of the party, will have to provide for changes in strategy and team, to hold off contenders, as the general elections of 2023 are looming on the horizon and projecting the local election results onto the national level, the picture is not satisfactory.
Nationwide results
If arbitrarily summarized, the elections were won by the Centre Party with a small lead ahead of the various local electoral alliances. The latter are popular in local elections, especially in smaller municipalities, where national party affiliations matter less and often people of different party leanings coalesce into one candidate list, based on local political sympathies.
Party | 2021 elections | 2017 elections | Change, %-points |
Centre Party (ALDE) | 24.4% | 27.3% | -2.9% |
Electoral alliances | 24.3% | 27.2% | -2.9% |
Reform Party (ALDE) | 17.3% | 19.5% | -2.2% |
EKRE (ECR) | 13.2% | 6.7% | 6.5% |
Pro Patria (EPP) | 8.4% | 8% | 0.4% |
Eesti 200 (n/a) | 6% | n/a | n/a |
Social Democrats (PS) | 5% | 10.4% | -5.4% |
The Capital City of Tallinn
Although the Centre Party increased its voter share in comparison to last local elections in 2017, they have to forfeit their one-party rule. This is due to the higher number of parties who made it above the 5% threshold. The modified d’Hondt system of electoral mechanics means that the votes that are casted for parties which wind up receiving less than the 5% threshold are divided among the successful parties with most of the votes tending to go to the election winner.
Party | 2021 elections | 2017 elections | Change, %-points |
Centre Party (ALDE) | 45.4% | 44.4% | 1% |
Reform Party (ALDE) | 17.8% | 20.5% | -2.7% |
EKRE (ECR) | 9.5% | 7% | 2.5% |
Eesti 200 (n/a) | 9.5% | n/a | n/a |
Social Democrats (PS) | 7.5% | 11% | -3.5% |
Pro Patria (EPP) | 7.1% | 6.6% | 0.5% |
As can be seen from the vote share and the council seats (Table 2 and Table 3), the key component in current elections was the success of newcomer Eesti 200. The party was founded ahead of the last general elections in 2019 where they were unsuccessful in gaining seats in the parliament. However, the party continued its work and has now officially cemented themselves in Estonian politics with strong representations in the key cities of Tallinn and Tartu.
Party | 2021 elections | 2017 elections | Change |
Centre Party (ALDE) | 38, out of 79 seats | 40, out of 79 seats | -2 |
Reform Party (ALDE) | 15 | 18 | -2 |
EKRE (ECR) | 8 | 6 | 2 |
Eesti 200 (n/a) | 7 | n/a | n/a |
Social Democrats (PS) | 6 | 9 | -3 |
Pro Patria (EPP) | 5 | 5 | 0 |
Other | 0 | 1 | -1 |
In the coming days, the parties will launch coalition talks. The Centre Party will be most likely to try to secure a coalition with the Social Democrats, as this would be both ideologically the soundest and easiest to manage also from the point of view political chemistry. Another option would be to tie the knot with political newcomer Eesti200. However as a new, sort of a centrist, high-brow technocratic party, its demands on how the city should be run are from one perspective very sharp and from another, its real political philosophy is still so vague that it is hard for a partner to gauge long-term viability of co-operation.
Further takeaways
The second largest city of Tartu remains in the control of the prime minister’s Reform Party. This has been the stronghold of the party since the end of 1990s. However, as usual in Tartu, they must find a coalition partner, with the Social Democrats and Pro Patria looking like the most promising partners. The newcomer Eesti 200 is an unlikely candidate as they had made a lot of fuss about replacing the Reform Party altogether in the electoral campaign and the personal chemistry might not be there between the two parties.
The troubling situation might provoke [Jüri Ratas] into rash moves, destabilising the already embattled government.
Perhaps another one of the most notable outcomes of the local elections was the clear loss of the Centre Party in its second key constituency, the predominantly Russian-speaking city of Narva. This has been under the sole governance of the Centre Party for more than two decades. The weakened position of the Centre Party in Narva, as well as their clear losses in the other key cities of Pärnu and Tartu further mixes up the power dynamics in the national government, with the party leader Jüri Ratas on the defensive. The troubling situation might provoke him into rash moves, destabilising the already embattled government that has been struggling with the lagging vaccination drive.
The right-populist EKRE also consolidated some of its promising growth into results. The party which gained access into the parliament only in 2015 on the back of the EU immigration crisis as well as protest against national civil union legislation, has been growing its national party apparatus.
While the gains in many places were remarkable, then the party’s summarized results fell short of their own expectations. In the national polls that simulate general election support, they have been neck and neck with the leader, the Reform Party. However, EKRE’s local election results came in with just half of what the national polls had been promising, meaning that the party’s messaging – while appealing to many that are generally concerned about their lives and future – do not impact practical electoral behaviour to the same extent. Furthermore, the party, due to its extremist image, has still a hard time appealing to brand name candidates. Outside of the party leaders, very few names carry similar weight.
Summary
The next general elections take place in early 2023. While the Prime Minister’s Reform Party, despite of the difficulties of running a coherent COVID19 national strategy, seems to have gone through this test intact, it will be facing Eesti 200 as a serious challenge to some of its more liberal voters, especially in the bigger cities. Their concerns might be relieved only by the Centre Party’s relative weakness outside the capital city of Tallinn – taking into account also that many of the Centre Party’s non-citizen voters cannot vote in parliamentary elections. The rise of the right-populist EKRE, also seems to have made it through their first test, with the results indicating, that further normalization of the party’s core needs to take place to broaden support (i.e., mainstream messaging and stronger candidates).
Almost missing from the political map are the Social Democrats. Although in many places, their local party organizations were part of politically non-affiliated candidate lists, then their results in the bigger cities were still really disappointing for the party. Their search for new leadership and positioning, between the centre-right Reform Party, the centre-left Centre Party and yet non-ideological technocratic Eesti 200, continues without a solution in sight.
5 tips for influencers for an effective cooperation: PR agency’s view

The title influencer can be attributed to virtually anyone active on social media. Social media gives a voice to everyone – anyone can create content.
Having worked as a PR consultant with world-renowned brands and many content creators, I have made a number of observations over the years that could be useful both for a content creator and their client. What are the best practices for influencers, and how can routines be put in place to help ensure that a client returns?
1. Stay loyal
One of the biggest mistakes an influencer can make is to rush into a new collaboration with their client’s competitor immediately after the end of the cooperation with a client. This does not leave a good impression on cooperation partners or agencies. As an influencer you should maintain your authenticity and stay loyal to those brands with whom you have had a good cooperation, and whose products you use outside of a work relationship.
This way, you secure your professional image and show authenticity to your followers. This will increase the chances that a client will want to work with you again – you never know, maybe they will offer you a proposal for a long-term cooperation or an opportunity to develop a completely new product together.
2. Don’t become a Top Shop ad
This and the first point complement each other. Brands like faces who talk about products with their own character and humour, and are not already “overused”; meaning those influencers who are selective, and don’t take each and every offer.
Usually the influencers who are truest to their personality and interests, tend to receive the most offers to cooperate. Thus, it is up to the influencer to decide whether they will become just another advertisement somewhere on the main street or retain the specific content of their channel and match the brands with it, not vice versa.
3. Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines – it’s crucial
Yes, it is really important to meet deadlines. Campaigns are planned for specific periods, and in most cases, working with an influencer is only one part of an entire larger campaign. This means an attitude of “it doesn’t matter when I post the content” is definitely not the way an ideal partner would think.
It is worth noting that the need to ask and prompt about deadlines becomes incredibly inconvenient for project managers pretty quickly. It is unlikely that a person who disrespect agreements will be involved in a campaign next time.
4. Don’t black out any potential customer
So many influencers have publicly stated that people should take their work more seriously – content creation takes a lot of time and preparation. This is 100% true.
However, it is also important that an influencer maintains a serious image. Hence one of the most basic tenets is: public defamation of clients, both potential and existing, does not create any credibility and is uninviting. It is worth considering that Estonia’s small size means that stories about experiences, both good and bad, move quickly and such experiences do not stay unnoticed by others.
Of course, this does not mean that feedback about a cooperation should not be given. On the contrary: if you do not like something or have ideas about how to make something better in the future, you should tell your client. This is exactly how agencies work with their clients.
5. Share statistics and feedback
The brands themselves also want feedback. If something is wrong with their product or needs further development, such direct feedback from the consumer is extremely valuable.
Seeing an influencer’s statistics is also very useful and informative for a brand. Although most companies ask for that themselves at the end of a cooperation – or sometimes before beginning – a cooperative and proactive approach by an influencer is especially pleasing. Sharing important information and data on your own initiative is a sign of professionalism and openness to a client.
Andreas Kaju: Open Tap Policies Have Rarely Brought Long-Term Success

This article first appeared in Äripäev on 15 May 2021.
I am concerned about the sloganeering of the debate on the state budget and the national debt. It can give the impression to a citizen who is informed only through the press that on one side of the debate there are fiscal conservatives defending the principle of a balance between expenditure and revenue, and on the other side there are ideologues with good ideas and a desire to find the money to bring them to life.
The real starting point is this. Estonia’s debt level has already risen threefold in the last two years, from 8.4% of GDP to 23.6% of GDP, and the structural fiscal position of the general government has increased by the same magnitude, from 2.7% to -6.6%. Every second, Estonia borrows to finance its existing legal obligations, without a blink. And the artificial recession caused by pandemic restrictions (which are holding back supply; there is plenty of demand) is not yet over. Maybe we will live like this for years to come, where we will have to subsidise the recovery of whole sectors of the economy with wage subsidies and so on. All of this is obviously necessary, because society will bear the excess costs in solidarity to protect the most vulnerable.
In other words: In Estonia, the budget deficit is growing even before any debate, and it has been so for several years before the crisis, when, despite economic growth, it managed to spend more than it raised.
Concrete-constrained fantasy
The ‘open taps policy’ of which Finance Minister and Prime Minister Otto Strandman accused Konstantin Päts, and which led to his dismissal as head of state back in 1924, has very rarely been a long-term success. In the short term, of course, it is inevitable in pandemic circumstances – the euro area’s public debt has also crossed the 100% of GDP threshold and avoiding social collapse is the government’s first task. The problem is, above all, that Estonia has not yet had a government that has been able to open the taps and make long-term investments, in addition to covering current expenditure, without visible results before the next elections.
The ‘open taps policy’ of which Finance Minister and Prime Minister Otto Strandman accused Konstantin Päts, and which led to his dismissal as head of state back in 1924, has very rarely been a long-term success.
This is why the so-called investment money is always poured into concrete and asphalt. For example, in the health sector in Estonia, almost the entire period of EU membership, structural funds and co-financing for investments have been used for concrete investments.
Even today, fantasy is limited to concrete. A major project for the new Tallinn hospital may be justified to consolidate the existing city hospitals operating in old buildings, but in the circumstances where we have regional hospitals PERH and TÜK and already today one does not have enough residents and the other does not have enough patients, our real estate-oriented investment philosophy is simply strange.
In education, too, investment has always been only in building houses. In a country of faith in education, the popularity of the teaching profession is still among the lowest in the OECD countries, because children leaving school see how difficult it is for a teacher to be alone in the classroom and how little real support he or she has.
The reason for investing in building is that the process is simple, the result tangible. We order the houses, the bank knows how to price, the builder builds, the owner depreciates, and for a while everyone is happy, the economy grows.
The state is a poor investor not only because these investments are not managed as they should be, but also because it does not know how to invest. With a low appetite for risk (historically, KredEx’s business support measures have been so conservative that demand for them has sometimes been poor, although the situation has improved in recent months) and a time horizon that is always close at hand, the state does not invest in companies at the crossroads of science and modern manufacturing in Estonia, or in education and science, but primarily in construction.
Take a look at Finland or Germany – what is the level of investment there by the public sector, central government or counties and cities? There is competition for production and technology transfer opportunities for companies, and centres of excellence are set up with innovative R&D-intensive companies. In the health sector, interesting new interventions and prevention policies are being funded to help extend healthy life years.
I am not going to talk about 6G, artificial intelligence, the energy revolution or the impossibility of developing any industry at all outside Ida-Virumaa region in Estonia.
Our great development obstacle
If the government wants to invest, it should do so where private sector investment and the expected impact would otherwise not reach. In today’s macro-environment, any marketable business idea can get money, it doesn’t necessarily need the state. Yes, Estonia’s capital market is still fragile, but the rapid development of recent years has included the growth of local investment firms and hedge funds. In Estonia, it is easy to start a new business, raise money, develop it, sell it and start again.
In today’s macro-environment, any marketable business idea can get money, it doesn’t necessarily need the state.
Where there is not enough private capital in Estonia: fundamental and applied science, universal education, giving all children a level playing field, but also political competition to attract or retain large investments.
The Estonian economy is actually doing well at the moment, even if it is hard to believe in the middle of a pandemic. It does not need concrete money. Estonia, like many other countries, has one major brake on development – a chronic shortage of people with different skills. This is true in the fastest growing and highest value-added technology industries but also in agriculture and food production, health care and the service sector. Everywhere. No people, no skills. If we can create a greater concentration of people and skills, there will be growth, innovation (which unambiguously depends on the concentration of talent and interactions between them) and culture.
Finally, a reminder for our fellow entrepreneurs. As soon as the new government’s tax peace is over, the debate will begin on how to plug the annual deficit with rising budget revenues in addition to borrowing. Money can be taken from where it is earned. In Estonia, the Reform Party has always loved to tax consumption, while the other major parties have never had any serious ideas to put on the table (to Jüri Ratas’ credit: he did try to start a tax debate, but the pandemic and real life ruined it). Unless people’s grocery list or homes are not to be taxed further, the money will have to come from where it is. You know.
VACCINATION TESTS THE RELATIONS BETWEEN COMPANIES AND THEIR EMPLOYEES

For companies who have been operating with a general shortage of workforce for years, it has been extremely difficult to organize work during the crisis. But the issue that put employers’ relationships with their employees to test the most, was vaccination.
Of course, the past year has been difficult for everyone, both personally and professionally. However, there is not much thought about how employers have had to change their work organization almost each and every day. Employees were constantly left in self-isolation and on sick leave, there were in-house outbreaks that took entire departments away from work for weeks. However, demand for a company’s service or products was affected differently – it can be said that, for most companies, it remained essentially the same or even increased.
For employers, vaccination is the light shining at the end of the tunnel. It is what everyone is rushing towards.
For employers, vaccination is the light shining at the end of the tunnel. It is what everyone is rushing towards. Businesses are diligently compiling lists of workers who are critical service providers and bombarding the government with the desire to vaccinate as many workers as possible, as a priority.
However, as the Olerex case, which came to the public this week, showed, the desire of workers to get an injection is not nearly as present. So the issue could lead to a huge employment dispute. For employees, this is an extremely personal decision that they are not prepared to make rashly. And even less at the behest of an employer or even the state. We know that not even every person in healthcare agreed to be vaccinated.
The issue of vaccination divided society long before the arrival of the Coronavirus, and there is a skepticism about vaccines. Are you going to have your child vaccinated? That is a question parents don’t even dare to discuss with each other, because even best friends can quickly get into a fight on this topic.
Thus, businesses need to be much more thoughtful and careful in handling the issue of the Coronavirus vaccine, than they might realize at first glance. Neutral information can be shared with employees, and organizing introductions to the topic and discussions, but the final decision belongs, in any case, to the employee.
Companies need to consider, at the board level, whether there are any positions in their company where vaccination is essential. The Estonian legal environment makes it possible to set a qualification requirement to include vaccination, if a risk analysis is done about the work environment of the respective position. Of course, it cannot be ruled out that the termination of employment following the non-compliance of such a requirement may nevertheless reach the court. But preliminary evaluation suggests that such a restriction may be imposed on certain positions.
If the risk of Coronavirus is significant to a business but, for various reasons, making vaccination a qualification requirement is not a good solution, resources should be directed to encourage people to vaccinate themselves. Here, successful internal communication is a combination of informing, compensating, and maintaining relationships.
With thoughtless action it is easy to flush away an employer’s reputation that has been cultivated over many years.
However, it is clear that a company’s actions in this crisis will give employees a clear impression of the values that prevail in the company, and the leaders who run it. And that impression will stay for a long time. With thoughtless action it is easy to flush away an employer’s reputation that has been cultivated over many years.
OTT LUMI: CELEBRITIES SET AN EXAMPLE FOR VACCINATION

The public is not clear on the vaccination plan, nor on the obligations and responsibilities of the parties involved, or the indicators for assessing the success of vaccination activities. If such a plan exists in Estonia, it is skillfully hidden, writes communication expert Ott Lumi.
Society is organized through three functions: communication, the rule of law, and money. The cheapest of these is communication, which is used by smart communities and costs several times less than changing misconceptions that have taken root later.
For example, people are currently being fined for not wearing a mask, but only half a year ago some scientists said a mask was pointless. Now the only thing we can do is to react with money, as the richest countries can afford an endless supply of hospital beds and some state budgets seem to be made of rubber.
The HOIA app turned out to be a disappointment. The lack of a coordinated campaign by developers and the state became fatal..
In Coronavirus communication the most important preventive action, undoubtedly, is to keep infection low. However, the largest prevention project, the HOIA app, turned out to be disappointing. The initiative’s lack of a coordinated campaign by developers and the state turned out to be fatal. Spending only 200,000 euros in circumstances where the volume of the Estonian advertising market exceeds 150 million euros a year, seems ridiculously cheap in a significant crisis. In addition, it is known that the Russian speaking target group primarily uses social media and watches YouTube more than the national average. Yet these channels were drastically underutilized.
In contrast, the success of the Finnish analogue, Koronavilkku, was based on both a good product and joint communication by the state health board and the private sector. Our Northern neighbors have benefitted from their very high level of trust in the state, people’s readiness to contribute to resolving the crisis themselves, and the successful implementation of an extensive advertising campaign.
At present, the spearhead of communication should be pointed towards vaccination. However, the public is not clear on the vaccination plan, nor the obligations and responsibilities of the parties involved, or the indicators for assessing the success of the activities. If such a plan exists in Estonia, it is skillfully hidden, as are the results of the relevant measurements.
A population survey published in mid-January found that 47% of respondents were unsure about vaccination. With such a large number of people hesitant, a large-scale nationwide campaign should have been launched, not the publication of individual opinions. In addition, it remains unclear where and how residents who do not speak Estonian are approached. The injection process of nurses and caregivers, as well as public surveys, clearly showed that there are more who are hesitant about vaccination in the non-Estonian category.
What’s more, the paper Põhjarannik wrote at the end of January that communication about vaccination will not begin in Ida-Virumaa until May. As there would not be enough vaccines in the country earlier than that. And this all happened in a situation where, as is well-known, hostile forces are engaged in disseminating false information in a focused manner, especially to the Russian-speaking target group. There is active incitement for the Sputnik vaccine and against vaccines authorized in the European Union.
Past experience shows that model-based, precisely targeted activities bring success in communication. A good example comes from the United States polio campaign, which took place in several waves and where messages were forwarded by respected and well-known persons, such as Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and Ella Fitzgerald.
In Estonia, well-known persons like Anne Veski or Mihhail Kõlvart, could also be engaged in informing the Russian-speaking community.
Australia’s still most successful Covid-19 vaccination campaign, “Safe, Effective and Free”, which cost $24 million (€15.4 million), was also based on positive examples. Many ethnicities live together in the country. Indigenous Australians had to be approached differently: respected spokesmen in local communities used social media to convey messages.
Does the tree fall when we hear it and see it, or is it enough when a politician describes how the tree fell?
Among others, the government also focused specifically on women in their 30s, who were more likely to become pregnant. As a result, the number of young women in the target group who considered vaccination to be completely safe, increased by 15%. Social listening was actively used to refute misinformation: social media tried to catch groups who spread misrepresentations, and these were corrected as quickly as possible.
Without a detailed vaccination plan, even the most awe-inspiring communication plan will not work. The Minister of Health and Labor has somehow expressed the idea that a vaccination plan has been around for a long time. But does the tree fall when we hear it and see it, or is it enough when a politician describes how the tree fell?
We can do nothing but comfort ourselves in the thought that we are not alone. The situation in Latvia is similar to Estonia, in terms of both the content and communication of the vaccination plan, but with the difference that Latvian politicians publicly curse officials by name, and have apologized to the people for their administrative inability.
Andreas Kaju: State that is and yet is not

This article first appeared in Hea Kodanik 2020 summer edition.
The corona crisis showed well that the State, with a capital letter, is like a phenomenon of quantum mechanics, which at one moment is there and then is not there. It appears when we want it, when we believe in it, when we give it life and legitimacy – and dissipates like a mirage when we no longer believe in it and act accordingly.
Undoubtedly, there is a government all the time, an executive, with its inherent coercive mechanisms to enforce the social compact, the constitution and other laws, balanced by a legislature that scrutinises and reflects the will of the people and a judiciary that understands the law.
At the same time, Estonia is objectively – and also numerically, in terms of the actual functioning of the economy – a country where the vast majority of people living here go about their daily lives completely independently of the existence of the executive branch, with the exception of a few basic public services. Even the functioning of public services has become so self-evident, in a technology-enabled way, that it is easier not to notice them than to make a number of them. They are more background processes that run without user intervention.
It all serves a society in which the Estonian people are the dominant part. These are the people who feel a sense of belonging to this land and, above all, to other compatriots; between whom there is an inextricable common ground, which the Estonian language and, for a smaller part of the population, culture and narrower meanings help to encode and decode.
What crisis taught us about the state
It is only in times of trouble, conflict and war that we all become a state. Common hardships consolidate government, legislature, judiciary and the people. It is in these fleeting moments that the otherwise self-interested activity of each of us, committed to our own lives, freezes for a moment, ready to submit to the imperative of preserving the lives of all rather than ourselves.
So there was something comforting in the first phase of the corona crisis for supporters of the larger state as well as for those whose first instinct is to be sceptical and averse to state intervention. First of all, the people of Estonia showed a willingness to be guided by the common-sense guidelines of the state when it was absolutely necessary. In the same way, people had long ago abandoned them when the government was still discussing possible new orders and restrictions at cabinet meetings (abandoning them, however, as a result of debate among themselves, it must be said).
It is only in times of trouble, conflict and war that we all become a state.
The problem was most obvious with the so-called 2+2 restriction: the government and the Scientific Council discussed in the second half of June whether and how to change the restriction in circumstances where the vast majority of people in Estonia have been behaving in a way that denies the existence of such a restriction for a month and a half. In this way, we saw the extent of the state’s functioning in an emergency situation, and also its limitations. There were moments when the government and the emergency guidelines acted as if they were holding the people at the end of a rope, but the government’s ability to hold the attention of the people and the desired behaviour in the long term was predictably poor.
Estonia is a liberal (this does not mean progressive, the right to life of conservatism also rests on the same principles) democracy in its constitution and in its tradition of practical politics – we have chosen a path for the survival of a nation and culture that rests on respect for the individual rights and freedoms of those who wish to belong to that nation. Most of what concerns public policy in Estonia is ensured through people’s own behavioural decisions and choices. An Estonian pedestrian waits to cross the road behind a red light even when there are no cars and no one is looking. All this is complemented by the peculiarity of a small country – we cannot afford a different kind of state than the one based on people’s own common sense.
The majority of the governing coalition in Estonia felt the same way about the state during the crisis. So that even if we knew that the virus could be stopped if life in Estonia were to be completely halted for 21 days and enforced by the use of the Defence League and the army if necessary, the Estonian public is not prepared to tolerate anything like that. The decision would be reflected in a worse-than-expected result for those involved in the next elections.
Nonetheless, people are prepared to comply, without question, in the short term, with orders and behavioural guidelines that coincide with their personal sense of safety and security. This situation prevailed for weeks – businesses and citizens reduced their contacts to a minimum, traffic density on Tallinn’s streets rapidly halved, according to measurements by outdoor advertising company JCDecaux, and so on. But the problem of compliance arose as soon as people’s individual perception of safety no longer matched the seriousness that the emergency manager’s orders seemed to imply, and restrictions and actual behaviour began to diverge rapidly and increasingly.
There is nothing wrong with this – on the contrary, people were thinking for themselves and acting more or less sensibly in the light of the best available information. The government, instead of pushing back, started to look for ways to ease restrictions after a momentary standstill, although there was talk of party disagreements (any politically interested person can work out for themselves which party preferred more restrictions and which preferred to trust citizens).
By the way, my company commissioned a study from Norstat on its own initiative, the results of which showed that the Prime Minister’s explanations on coronavirus were more reliable than those of leading health officials or the press – at least until Arkadi Popov was appointed as the Emergency Medical Director of the Health Service. Television news was slightly more credible than media portals; somewhat surprisingly, newspapers had the same credibility as media portals – people no longer make a qualitative distinction.
Government and the civil society
The question of whether anything is different with the state and civil society under the current government has been on the minds of active citizens. Undoubtedly, because elections have consequences, and one can only be pleased about that, since people have forgotten about it in the intervening years. Governments have priorities and the basis for supporting civil society is not an issue that can exist outside the scope of government. On the other hand, nothing has changed apart from some disagreements with NGOs on aspects of the administrative organisation of civil society policy implementation. Yet.
The most tangible change is the prevailing insecurity among civil servants in some ministries. In general, there are well-established perceptions in the Estonian administrative culture of what one or the other political party in Estonia stands for (worldview and even more nuanced preferences), which are further framed by the coalition agreement and the government’s action plan. Since the agreement that marks the birth of the current government is based on a small common element, what is not written in it is more important than what is. This creates uncertainty and speculation in some ministries, as it is difficult to accurately predict the will of political leaders. If, on the other hand, you have to go to the minister’s office to get that will on every issue, then the issues start to pile up and on many issues progress stops altogether.
If, on the other hand, you have to go to the minister’s office to get that will on every issue, then the issues start to pile up and on many issues progress stops altogether.
It is not sustainable in the long term for public administration to have to go to the political leadership for guidance, agreement or feedback on every single issue. In such pyramids of power, unsigned decisions pile up on the minister’s desk within weeks. Even in classically and necessarily hierarchical organisations such as the military, leadership today is doctrinally different: in a war situation, strategic leaders express their Will – what they want to achieve as a result of the operation – and tactical leaders make decisions themselves to achieve it in the rapidly changing conditions on the battlefield. It is no longer possible to lead otherwise.
Each government has its own culture and mechanisms for resolving political conflicts. In a coalition, where there is little agreed common ground and many of the issues that still need to be resolved have been left out of the agreement, it is this process, often informal, that is crucial. On the other hand, life has shown that, on many issues, they are of no use either if the confrontation is deeply ideological.
In Estonia, an adult’s ability to cope in times of peace does not depend on the government or on its will. The same should be true of civil society, only more so – the point of civil society should be to increase the capacity of communities to function autonomously, so that we can always manage by relying on each other’s contributions. One way to think about the strength of civil society is to imagine what happens when government (political governance) is turned off. As in the Kingdom of Belgium, where in 2010-11, increasingly protracted coalition negotiations failed to form a functioning government for 589 days.
So what happened there? Nothing happened. Would we be satisfied with the picture that would open up for us of civil society in Estonia under a government that was switched off? What is more, would you believe me when I say that a great many things that, even in the present government, at least on the surface, are disturbing to civil society associations, will dissipate from the receding mire of mist as soon as they are simply no longer believed? It is also a much healthier way to live.
Of course, practical life for many not-for-profit civic organisations is very different from the ideal plan. Their functioning depends on the state, its will and goodwill, many times more than that of the ordinary person. The operation of many associations is unambiguously linked to the willingness of the various authorities to place their trust in society; to give back to citizens the right and the opportunity to organise themselves services in one area of life or another, which were hitherto considered to be the exclusive preserve of the state.
Nevertheless, both civil associations and their advocacy should at all events seek to avoid a situation in which it is no longer relevant whether they are private non-profit organisations or simply cost-effective extensions of the executive branch. Finding the right balance between executive partnership and autonomous action is one of the greatest challenges for civil society.
Ott Lumi: Lobby — Hard To Regulate in Sauna

This article was first appeared in Äripäev on April 24, 2018.
In the case of lobbying, it is important to mark first of all that it is one of the areas of consultancy with, for example, around 25 000 people in Brussels and around 15 000 in Washington. Laws and regulations have an impact on a very wide range of business areas. At the top of the list you could list the food industry, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, IT, arms industry, classical industry, etc. Companies compete intensively and are usually influenced by the regulatory environment as one of the important factors.
Government relations experts and advisers are the people who know how regulations are made, who makes them and how to monitor and sometimes influence their development. Regulatory lobbying is therefore a very old profession. The problem is illegal lobbying. It is something that countries and nations have tried to regulate according to their contextual specificities. For example, our Minister of Justice (at the time Urmas Reinsalu – ed.) took the position that lobbying should be better regulated and promised to come up with ideas for doing so. The latest yearbook of the internal security service also speaks about covert lobbying and the importance of keeping all policy influencing activities in the open and public domain.
I am a government relations practitioner as well as a theorist. I am the author of Estonia’s first university lecture course on the subject and have written a few academic articles in the field. But first and foremost I am a practitioner of government relations. I have been advising companies on regulatory issues, both domestic and foreign, for a decade now. As a practitioner in the field, I believe that sensible regulation would undoubtedly be in the common interest of all normal advisers in the business. There is just one big caveat. Namely, only such a regulation really makes sense, which actually contributes to real policy influence disclosure and which all actors are willing to accept.
Only such a regulation really makes sense, which actually contributes to real policy influence disclosure and which all actors are willing to accept.
Three ways to regulate
Broadly speaking, there are three main traditions of lobbying regulation. The first is the Nordic option. In those societies, the regulation of lobbying has been debated at length, but the general consensus view is that regulating such activities is a threat to freedom of expression. Of course, this Nordic position should be seen in conjunction with the fact that the Nordic countries have the best perception of corruption in the world, i.e. that politics is conducted honestly in these societies and that there is a general perception that influencing politics can also be honest. We are talking here about societies in which it is believed that policy-making and the decisive influencing of policy must not only be honest, but also appear to be transparent.
Central European countries are generally classified in the second group. There, the picture of lobby regulation is relatively mixed. Classical lobbying regulation exists only in France and Austria, with self-regulation being the main feature.
Eastern Europe leads the way in regulating lobbying, with rigidly written lobbying regulations in Lithuania, Slovenia and Poland. In the case of Lithuania, for example, this also has a very specific background. Lithuania’s main obstacle in the European Union accession negotiations at the time was the great challenge of fighting corruption, and it was then that American consultants were recommended to Lithuania, and they wrote an American-style lobbying regulation for Lithuania, with accredited lobbyists who have to pass security clearance, rigid reporting, etc., as is the custom in Washington. The lobbying background in Poland is similar. The experience in Eastern Europe speaks of the way in which general misbehaviour is attempted to be tackled through excessive regulation.
All in all, so-called very rigid lobbying laws have been adopted in six EU Member States (as of 2018 – ed.). Ten countries have so-called soft regulations, which mainly means self-regulation on the part of advisers. In the remaining EU Member States, there is no self-regulation, no national regulation and no lobby register. These include, for example, Estonia*, Finland, Latvia, Denmark, and Sweden.
Lobbying depends on cultural background
There is a general consensus that illegal influence on politics, or various forms of corrupt practices, are largely cultural phenomena in nature and background. In the United States, for example, the regulation of lobbying has been an ongoing issue for the last 100 years. The first lobbying regulation, or law, in the United States of America was passed as early as 1946. Since then, one of the themes of every federal election has been to improve lobbying regulation, to make it tougher, to make it more transparent, and so on. This law tries to regulate both the subjects of politics, i.e. the lobbyists and the lobbied, and the objects of politics, i.e. the question of who has the right to have a say and who does not on specific proposed laws or regulations.
The issue of lobbying rules was also on the agenda during the 2016 US presidential election. In January 2017, President Trump enacted a series of new lobbying rules, including a two-year period during which officials are prohibited from advising clients on the same issue on which they previously worked and a five-year ban on lobbying the same agency where they previously worked**.
It is a question of its own what we could achieve if we were to regulate government relations consultancy, or lobbying, in Estonia. As international practice shows, there is no point in going into this in a cavalry charge style. It is also questionable how effective such regulations would be at all. The relevant debate in Finland has come to the conclusion that in a society where real decisions are made in the sauna, registers and the like are of little use.
Greater order would be beneficial
Nonetheless, as a practitioner in the field, I concede that a move towards more order in the field could be a goal. Firstly, it is positive that the number of professional advisers in government relations has increased significantly over the years, which also means that horizontal quality control of the indusry is beginning to emerge. A couple of things could deserve a chance already in a purely symbolic sense.
Firstly, I think that a voluntary register in Parliament would be progressive in terms of political culture. The German experience, where such a register has existed on a voluntary basis since 1972, confirms this.
Secondly, some kind of operational restrictions could be considered for civil servants and politicians, so that they do not become advisers in certain areas immediately after leaving public office. This could also be something that has a practical dimension and would undoubtedly strengthen political culture. Above all, however, legal compliance and political culture are important.
* In spring 2021, Estonia adopted a good practice guideline for dealing with lobbyists. Among other things, it obliges ministries and public authorities to publish the meetings of ministers and senior officials with interest groups.
** Shortly before the end of his term, Trump repealed these rules.
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