The Baltic elites after the change of the regime

Abstract

After 50 years of forceful integration in the Soviet Union, Estonia and Latvia declared their return to independence in August 1991, while the Lithuanian declaration came already in March 1990. During the Soviet-period a considerable number of Russophones immigrated to Estonia and Latvia, while to a much lesser extent to Lithuania. One result was considerable recruitment of Russians into the local elite structures. Another consequence was local indigenous leaders taking part in the nomenclature career system where membership in the Communist Party² was mandatory. However, the middle and upper middle level positions of the state were often filled by “technical experts” who were not party members. The focus here is if and how the change of the regime results in change of elites. Do we find elite continuity and recirculation, or are former elites expelled from the new power positions? More specifically we are investigating how the new power elite is connected to the past by former CP-membership, former positions in the status hierarchy, ethnic background and generational changes. The main argument is that change of elites is determined first of all by the need of the new states for skilled leaders and indigenous control of political and administrative institutions. A comparison of the three Baltic states shows how differences in ethnic and socio-economic cleavages raised different political issues which may have influenced the elite patterns after the change of the regime.