Newsletter - Social Science in Eastern Europe 2001- 2
ESTONIA
Ülikooli 18
50090 Tartu
Tel.: +3727 375154
Fax: +3727 375154
E-mail: politoloogia@ut.ee
Internet: http://www.ut.ee/SOPL/english/english.html
Management: Berg, Eiki Dr. (head); berg@cie.ut.ee
Year of foundation: 1993
Historical development: In 1995 the Department was divided into two
separate units: a Department of Political Science, and a Department of Public
Administration and Social Policy. The Department of Political Science was
internally structured as consisting of two acting Chairs: Chair of International
Relations and Chair of Comparative Political Science. Additional Chairs in
Political Theory and Baltic Politics and Society are planned. Political science
has been taught at the University of Tartu since 1992, when the Faculty of
Social Sciences was established by Prof. Rein Taagepera. Taagepera's idea was to
build up a Western-style social science division at the University, initially
using only foreign-trained or re-trained instructors. However, after about a
year this approach was stymied. In 1993, Taagepera's Faculty of Social Sciences
was re-organized and within it a separate Department of Political Science was
created from among the members of the political science unit of the Department
of Philosophy and Political Science.
Staff: 1 professor, 3 associate professors, 4 lecturers, 1 professor
emeritus
Chairs:
* Chair of International Relations
* Chair of Comparative Political Science
Research: Research interests within the Department include democratic
transition, electoral systems, parties and party systems, critical geopolitics,
civil society, Baltic history and politics, international relations in
the Baltic Sea region, nationalism and comparative ethnopolitics.
Current research projects:
* Vello Pettai. Electoral Institutions and Party Politics in the Baltic
States.
* Eiki Berg. Geopolitical Reasoning and Discourse in Post-Soviet Estonia.
Identity, Boundary-producing Practices and Context.
* Andres Kasekamp. Estonian Self-Government During the German Occupation,
1941-1944
Publications/ papers:
* Pettai, V. and M. Kreuzer. 1999. Party Politics in the Baltic States:
Social Bases and Institutional Context, East European Politics and Societies, 13
(1)
* Taagepera, R. 1997. Effective Number of Parties for Incomplete Data.
Electoral Studies 16 (2)
* Taagepera, R. 1998. Nationwide Inclusion and Exclusion. Thresholds of
Representation. Electoral Studies 17 (4)
* Taagepera, R.; B. Grofmani; E. Mikkel 2000. Fission and Fusion of Parties
in Estonia, 1987-1999. Journal of Baltic Studies 31 (4).
* Ruus, J.; A. Steen 1999. Change of Regime, Continuity of Elites? The Case
of Estonia. Akademika, University of Oslo.
* Ruutsoo R. and M. Siisianen 1996. Restoring Civil Society in the Baltic
States 1988-1994. European Studies, Vol. 2.
* Ruutsoo R. 1996. The State and Civil Society in Estonia After the
Restauration of Independence", in R. Blom, J. Nikula and H. Melin (eds)
Between Plan and Market. Walter de Gruyter: London.
* Berg, E. 2001. Ethnic Mobilization in Flux. Re-visiting Peripherality and
Minority Discontent in Estonia. Space & Polity, 5 (1)
* Pettai, V. 1998. Emerging Ethnic Democracy in Estonia and Latvia, in M.
Opalski, (ed.), Managing Diversity in Plural Societies. Minorities, Migration
and Nation-Building in Post-Communist Europe, Ottawa: Forum Eastern Europe.
* Berg, E.; S. Oras. 2000. Writing Post-Soviet Estonia on to the World Map.
Political Geography, 19 (5)
* Berg, E. 2001. De-constructing Border Practices in the Estonian-Russian
Borderland. Geopolitics, 5 (3)).
Teaching: The different study levels offered by the Department lead
to: Bachelor (BA) in Political Science (four years); Master of Arts (MA) in
Political Science (two years) and since the fall 2000 the department is
offering doctoral studies.
Co-operations: Participation in international comparative research
projects:
* Rein Ruutsoo. Civil Society in theEuropean North. Project leader Prof.
Risto Alapuro, University of Helsinki, Finland
* Rein Ruutsoo. Baltic Countryside in Post-Communist Transition. Project
leader Prof. Ilkka Alanen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland.
* Eiki Berg. Beyond EU: Enlargement. The Agenda of Direct Neighbourhood for
Eastern Europe. Project leaders Iris Kempe and Wim van Meurs, Centre for Applied
Policy Research, University of Munich. Germany
* Jüri Ruus. Parliaments in New and Established Democracies. Comparing
Committee Systems in New and Established Democratic Parliaments. Project leader
Prof. David M. Olson, Greensboro University, USA.
* Jüri Ruus. Direct Democracy. The Eastern and Central European Experience.
Project leader Prof. Mihal Bützer, University of Geneva.
Place of publication: Tallinn
Publication dates: quarterly
Published by: Estonian Academy Publishers
Estonia pst 7
22-10143 Estonia
Tel.: +372 6454504
Fax: +372 6466026
Internet: http://www.kirj.ee/trames/trames.htm
Editor- in-chief: Martin Ehala, ehala@tpu.ee
Subject area: Trames is a fully-refereed, internationally abstracted,
English-language scholarly journal in the humanities and social sciences in
Estonia. Tranes is published in English, but ocassionally essays are accepted in
German or French, especially in those disciplines in which English is not the
primary language of international communication. Number 3, 2000 is a special
isuue on Estonian population.
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