Latvia's transition to a market economy

• List of Tables and Figures
• p. viii

• List of Abbreviations
• p. x

• Part I
• The Research Question and its Foundations
• p. 1

• 1
• Introduction
• p. 3

• 2
• The Political Sources of Economic Policy Choices
• p. 9

• Part II
• Theoretical Underpinnings
• p. 15

• 3
• Transitional Dilemma
• p. 17

• The Democratic Sustainability of Marketization
• p. 17

• The Friction Between Capitalism and Democracy
• p. 19

• Economic or Political Liberalization First?
• p. 26

• The Case for Authoritarianism
• p. 26

• A Critique of the Case for Authoritarianism
• p. 31

• The Case for Democracy
• p. 38

• Beyond Dichotomies and Toward Consensus
• p. 40

• 4
• Radical and Gradualist Strategies for Reform
• p. 44

• Part III
• Setting the Research Task
• p. 53

• Part IV
• Empirical Case Study
• p. 59

• 5
• Latvia's Transformation Strategy
• p. 61

• 'Washington Consensus'-Type Standard Package
• p. 61

• Liberalization
• p. 63

• Price Liberalization
• p. 63

• Foreign Trade Liberalization
• p. 64

• Currency Convertibility
• p. 65

• Foreign Direct Investment
• p. 65

• Stabilization
• p. 68

• Monetary and Exchange Rate Policies
• p. 69

• Fiscal Policy
• p. 70

• The Institutional Frame for a Market Economy
• p. 71

• Legal Reform
• p. 72

• Banking Reform
• p. 72

• Restructuring
• p. 73

• Industrial Restructuring
• p. 74

• Restructuring of Trade
• p. 77

• 6
• Privatization
• p. 79

• Privatization as an Economic Phenomenon
• p. 79

• Characterization of the Privatization Strategy
• p. 81

• Comparative Typologization
• p. 87

• Privatization as a Political Process
• p. 91

• The Political Modification of the Strategy
• p. 92

• Controversial Privatizations
• p. 95

• Political Control over Privatization by Law
• p. 101

• Stakeholders and Nomenklatura Privatization
• p. 103

• Restitution - A Double-Edged Sword
• p. 105

• 7
• Economic Programmes of the Political Parties
• p. 109

• The Union for Fatherland and Freedom
• p. 112

• The Latvian National Conservative Party (LNNK)
• p. 118

• The Christian Democratic Union
• p. 122

• The Farmers' Union
• p. 127

• Latvia's Way
• p. 130

• The People's Movement for Latvia (Siegerist Party)
• p. 136

• The Unity Party
• p. 144

• The Democratic Party Masters (Saimnieks)
• p. 146

• The Political Union of Economists (Tautsaimnieks)
• p. 150

• The National Harmony Party
• p. 153

• The Socialist Party
• p. 156

• The Social Democratic Party
• p. 161

• 8
• The Political System and its Special Features
• p. 170

• The Main Axes of Political Conflict
• p. 170

• Socioeconomic Cleavage on an Issue Basis
• p. 172

• Consensual Topics
• p. 173

• Conflictual Topics
• p. 176

• Summary
• p. 187

• Evolution of the Party System
• p. 188

• Centre-Orientation Despite Fragmentation
• p. 197

• Corruptive Symbiosis of Business and Politics
• p. 201

• Intellectuals' Schizophrenic Attitude to Democracy
• p. 206

• 9
• Ideologization of Economic Policies
• p. 210

• 10
• The Nationality Question
• p. 216

• The Fallacy of Researchers
• p. 216

• A Heterogeneous Minority and its Divisions
• p. 217

• Peaceful Coexistence but Latent Tensions
• p. 223

• Citizenship and Political Attitudes
• p. 228

• Non-Citizens' League
• p. 236

• Identity and Loyalty
• p. 239

• Russian-Speaking Business
• p. 241

• Ethnic Cleavage in Party Politics
• p. 244

• The Decline of the Ethnic Cleavage
• p. 251

• Part V
• Politics versus Markets?
• p. 255

• 11
• Political Constraints on Economic Reform
• p. 257

• Availability of Political Support
• p. 257

• Political Feedback
• p. 260

• Solid Ground but Minor Drawbacks
• p. 263

• 12
• Reflection on the Theoretical Discussion
• p. 267

• Notes
• p. 274

• Bibliography
• p. 289

• List of Interviewees
• p. 298

• Index
• p. 300