REPAIR: Rejuvenating Democracy in the EU

This WP will ensure the effective coordination and implementation of project activities. It organises Steering Group meetings and reports to the European Commission. It also leads efforts to ensure the sustainability of the Centre.

This work package aims to consolidate European Union related research expertise at the UT and to increase the quantity and quality of UT research in European studies. Thematic foci include public perceptions of democracy and patterns of democratic participation in EU member states, major threats to democracy in Central and Eastern Europe, European Parliament elections, socio-economic governance in the EU in the post-pandemic context and its relationship to democratic legitimacy, as well as democratic governance promotion in the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood. Additionally, this work package aims to formulate research-based policy recommendations and to engage in dialogue with public officials, policy practitioners, and experts.

This work package sets out to modernize and expand the multi-disciplinary teaching of European studies at the UT by carrying out a comprehensive reform of the curriculum of the European Studies Master’s programme. It also aims to develop three new EU-related courses, update existing ones, and promote the adoption and spread of innovative teaching methods in European studies. Training will be offered to young and first-time voters on European Parliament elections and civic and political participation types. Additionally, the link between academia, policymakers, civil servants, and civil society will be strengthened by involving stakeholders in curriculum and course reform. Two new courses, “European Elections” and “Political Economy of Green Transition in Europe” will be opened up to all students at the UT. A shorter online course on democracy and autocracy in the Eastern neighbourhood shall be created. The WP will organize simulations on decision-making of the Council of the EU as well as an annual REPAIR graduate conference in European studies, allowing students to present their work and receive feedback.

This WP assesses the EU-related training needs for civics teachers in Estonian schools and provides training on EU democracy, politics, and governance to around 100 practicing civics teachers. The WP works with teachers, experts, and stakeholders to develop and test didactic approaches for teaching EU politics and governance at schools. The WP collaborates with the Association of Estonian History and Civics Teachers and the Ministry of Education and Research in assessing the EU-related training needs of Estonian civics teachers. It will analyse the feedback received from the teacher training events and formulate best practices for civics teachers.

This WP disseminates the results of academic and policy-relevant research to relevant target groups and beneficiaries, including academics, policymakers, practitioners, and the general public. It promotes and disseminates novel approaches to teaching and learning about the EU to educators, students, and education experts. The WP will organize a range of public events connected to major events and anniversaries in 2024, including European Parliament elections, the 20th anniversary of the 2004 enlargement, and the city of Tartu serving as a European Capital of Culture.

2024

Andrey Makarychev, Katarzyna Stoklosa, Gleb Yarovoy. 2024. Introduction. Europe-Russia Borderlands During the War in Ukraine: New Practices and Conceptualizations. European Foreign Affairs Review. Volume 29, Issue SI (2024) pp. 1 - 8.

Zeitlin, J., Bokhorst, D. and Eihmanis, E. (2024) ‘Governing the European Union’s recovery and resilience facility: National ownership and performance-based financing in theory and practice’. Regulation & Governance. 11.09.2024

Edgars Eihmanis. (2024). ‘EU transnational coalitions in polycrisis: the Visegrád-4 before and after the Russo-Ukrainian war’. Journal of European Public Policy 0(0): 1–25

Kristina Muhhina, ICT-based co-production and democracy: Enacting space, people, and authority in polycentric sites of governance in Estonia. Government Information Quarterly, 41:1, doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2023.101905

Braghiroli, S., Hagelin, S. More than neighbours: Assessing crisis narratives of Nordic-Baltic elites in the context of European Union’s eastern border. New Perspectives, 0(0). DOI: 10.1177/2336825X241230833

2023

Naczyk, M. and Eihmanis, E. (2023) ‘Populist party-producer group alliances and divergent developmentalist politics of minimum wages in Poland and Hungary’, Competition & Change, 09.11.2023

Sandra Hagelin (2023), Framing Entangled Borders in the Baltic States, Journal of Borderlands Studies, 07.11.2023

Sofia Vasilopoulou, Liisa Talving. Euroscepticism as a syndrome of stagnation? Regional inequality and trust in the EU. Journal of European Public Policy. 06.10.2023. 

Edgars Eihmanis. ‘Ten Years of the European Semester: policy goals, effectiveness and legitimacy’, in D. Adamski, F. Amtenbrink, and J. de Haan (eds). The Cambridge Handbook on European Monetary, Economic and Financial Market Integration. Cambridge: Cambridge University.

Stefano Braghiroli, Europe’s Russia-Friendly Parties Put to the Test by Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine, Journal of Regional Security, 18:1, 29–38. DOI: 10.5937/jrs18-41766

Muhhina, Kristina. Governance improvement by sectoral cooperation: toward a framework of policy designs for the Eastern neighbourhood. East European Politics, 39 (3), 434−456. DOI: 10.1080/21599165.2022.2136653

Andrey Makarychev, "Reactive Re-Bordering, Geopolitics and Biopolitics: Estonia at Europe’s Eastern Flank", Alternatives, 08.06.2023

Khutkyy, Dmytro; Matveieva, Olga; Mirza-Grisco, Diana. Voting in online surveys on open government policies in Moldova and Ukraine. Internet Policy Review, 12 (2). DOI: 10.14763/2023.2.1712

Liisi Veski, "Towards stronger national unity: statist ideas in Estonian nationalism during the “Era of Silence” (1934–1940)", Journal of Baltic Studies, 16.03.2023

Stefano Braghiroli, "Europe’s Russia-Friendly Parties Put to the Test by Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine", Journal of Regional Security, 7.03.2023

2022

Ehin, Piret; Solvak, Mihkel; Willemson, Jan; Vinkel, Priit. Internet voting in Estonia 2005–2019: Evidence from eleven elections. Government Information Quarterly, 39 (4), 101718. DOI: 10.1016/j.giq.2022.101718

Braghiroli, Stefano. The European Parliament put to the test by COVID-19: voting dynamics and coalition patterns of the EP's first response to the global pandemic. Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 30 (4), 682−705. DOI: 10.1080/14782804.2021.1934421

Braghiroli, Stefano; Makarychev, Andrey. Сonservative populism in Italy and Estonia: playing the multicultural card and engaging “domestic others”. East European Politics, 1−22. DOI: 10.1080/21599165.2022.2077725

Toplisek, Alen; Oellerich, Nils; Simons, Jasper P.; Eihmanis, Edgars. Path dependency and partisan interests: explaining COVID-19 social support programmes in East-Central Europe. East European Politics, 38 (4),  641−661. DOI: 10.1080/21599165.2022.2122046

Bohle, Dorothee; Eihmanis, Edgars. East Central Europe in the COVID-19 crisis. East European Politics, 38 (4),  491−506. DOI: 10.1080/21599165.2022.2122051

2023

Jonathan Zeitlin, David Bokhorst, and Edgars Eihmanis. Governing the RRF: Drafting, Implementing, and Monitoring National Recovery and Resilience Plans as an Interactive Multi-Level Process. Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) Policy Study, June 2023.	Image
Heidi Ann Erbsen, (via Alliance4Life policy paper) "Euroopa innovatsioonilõhe sulgemist pärsib liigne hoogtöö", Novaator, 14.06.23
Dmytro Khutkyy; Elisa Lironi. Internet voting for open government: what, why, and how to introduce it in the European Union. 2023/1. EDDA-ECAS Policy Briefs
Dmytro Khutkyy; Elisa Lironi. Internet voting for open government: what, why, and how to introduce it in European countries. EDDA-ECAS Policy Briefs
Dmytro Khutkyy; Elisa Lironi. Internet voting for open government: what, why, and how to introduce it in local communities. EDDA-ECAS Policy Brief

2022

2024

Piret Ehin, Defying stereotypes – twenty years of Estonia’s EU membership LSE, 01.10.2024

Piret Ehin, "TULEVIKU EUROOPA | Suveräänsust ei pea kui püha reliikviat kolme luku taga sinimustvalges kastis hoidma", Eesti Päevaleht, 11.03.2024

2023

Sofia Vasilopoulou, Liisa Talving, "How regional inequality shapes trust in the EU", EUROPP – European Politics and Policy, 01.11.2023

Liisi Veski saates "Kuue samba taga": mida näitavad rahvusluse ja rahvusliku enesemääramise uuringud, meie ning Euroopa ajalugu ja praegused liikumised, Raadio KUKU, 30.10.2023

Anna Beitane, Stefano Braghiroli, "ОТ ПОЛИТОЛОГА ⟩ Путь в Европу: прошлое Эстонии – будущее Молдовы?" (Path to Europe: Estonia's past - the future of Moldova?), Postimees, 11.10.2023.

Maili Vilson gave a comment for “Rethinking Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies in the West”, New Eastern Europe, 11.09.2023

Piret Ehin attended an expert roundtable on the impact of the EU’s prospective enlargement, organized by the Government Office of Estonia at the Stenbock House. She presented the results of an analysis “The impact of prospective enlargement on voting in the Council of the European Union,” and introduced a newly-built interactive EU30+ voting calculator, available here. 18.09.2023.

Berit Kivisaar, "Euroopa õpingute eriala kui Tartu Ülikooli salajane pärl", the University of Tartu. 18.08.2023

Eva Piirimäe, intervjuu: "Euroopa taassünd ja valgustuse poliitika", Sirp. 18.08.2023

Stefano Braghiroli, "The role of the Baltic States in the EU and NATO in the light of the war in Ukraine: From Marginality to Centrality", the Center for Openness and Dialogue in Tirana. 12.07.2023

Heidi Ann Erbsen, (via Alliance4Life policy paper) "Euroopa innovatsioonilõhe sulgemist pärsib liigne hoogtöö", Novaator, 14.06.23

Stefano Braghiroli, "Baltic voices – from the fringes to the fore", New Eastern Europe. 04.07.2023

Piret Ehin gave an interview to Kuku radio about EU reforms and enlargement, 04.06.2023

Stefano Braghiroli, Contribution to podcast Aelvis of Comitato Ventotene on the role of the Baltic states in Europe and in supporting Ukraine, 26.05.2023

Stefano Braghiroli on the role of the Baltic states in Europe and in supporting Ukraine, podcast Aelvis of Comitato Ventotene. 25.05.2023

Stephano Braghiroli gave an interview: "‘Western Europe wouldn’t have missed the Baltics’ – how Latvia and Estonia joined the EU", Lithuanian National Radio and Television, 10.05.2023

Stefano Braghiroli, Andrey Makarychev, "ОТ ПОЛИТОЛОГА: Эстонский либерализм в поисках нового баланса" / "FROM A POLITICAL SCIENTIST: Estonian liberalism in search of a new balance", 18.04.23

 Stefano Braghiroli, Marge Pähkel about Ukraine grain ban "Euroopa Liit asub arutama kolme liikmesriigi keeldu Ukraina teravilja impordile", ERR, 18.04.2023

Mihkel Solvak, “Online voting – the future of democracy or a niche trend?”, e-Estonia podcast, 15.03.2023

Mihkel Solvak, "E-valimistevastase usalduse õõnestaja kahjustab tavaliselt iseennast", Eesti Päevaleht, 15.03.2023