The Ethnic Participation Gap: Comparing Second Generation Russian Youth and Estonian Youth

The political and civic participation of citizens is essential for “making democracy work”. The nationalizing approach to state-building adopted by Estonia in the early 1990s limited the political participation of its large Russian-speaking minorities. Democratic nation-building, the approach favoured by European institutions, requires that states provide minorities with opportunities to participate in socio-political structures and to maintain and develop their culture. While Estonia made significant reforms during the EU accession process, barriers to minority participation remain. Through a quantitative analysis of ‘The Integration of the European Second Generation ’ (TIES) survey, this article compares the political and civic participation of second generation Russian youth with Estonian youth, and explores the factors that influence participation both within and across groups. Education level is strongly associated with the likelihood of participation for both groups; however, income is significant only for ethnic Estonians. Among Russian respondents, Estonian language skills are positively associated with civic participation, and Estonian citizenship with the likelihood of voting. Ethnicity remains a significant predictor of political and civic participation when controlling for socioeconomic and demographic variables. Estonians are more likely to vote in municipal elections and to participate in voluntary associations than Russians. Low levels of civic participation among both Estonian and Russian youth, as well as the existence of an ethnic participation gap, may undermine Estonian democracy