2025/12/04 by Gustav Lundberg · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #European Union Policy and Governance #Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics #Political Systems and Governance
paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/01629778.2025.2596801
openalex created_date 2025/12/04 · openalex publication_date 2025/12/04 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Many scholars have drawn attention to the growing influence of nationalist ideology within Latvian politics in recent years. The causes behind this nationalist turn remain disputed. This article studies this process through analyzing four integration policy documents, followed by an examination of different plausible hypotheses explaining the nationalist turn. The author compares two popular explanations – identified as the Potemkin pluralism hypothesis and the external threat hypothesis. Lastly, the author proposes a third hypothesis, the ethnic party system hypothesis, in order to further emphasize the role of the Latvian party system in shaping the state’s increasingly nationalist policy output.