Europeanization, National Party Systems and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights: The Cases of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania

In recent years, there has been a growing divergence in national policies towards lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons within a growing European Union (EU). This variation is surprising given that support of LGBT persons, and more specifically, of state recognition of gender-neutral partnerships has become a widely disseminated EU value. In explaining why this variation has occurred, this dissertation forwards two central arguments: First, the EU’s ability to achieve policy convergence in the sphere of LGBT rights across all 28 member states is limited by a lack ‘hard tools’ at the EU’s disposal. In absence of a larger horizontal equality directive, the EU must increasingly rely on elite persuasion to achieve its goals in member states. This contrasts with the reality in applicant states, such as Montenegro, where the promise of eventual membership in the EU provides strong external incentives to comply with policies supported by Brussels. As this thesis finds, such direct pressure is absent for countries already within the Union, and elevates the importance of domestic factors that can challenge pro-LGBT EU norms. Secondly, through a closer examination of the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, it is argued that the stability of national party systems, measured through the number of political parties, ideological polarization and issue cleavages, as well as system volatility, can significantly shape whether a country adopts EU LGBT norms or not. The relative stability and more programmatic nature of the Estonian party system made it easier for a minimal number of elites to adopt EU-supported gender-neutral partnerships. By contrast, the highly volatile and unstable Latvian and Lithuanian party systems made the passage of laws touching on socially contentious issues, such as gay rights, extraordinarily difficult, if not impossible to pass, despite a supranational environment strongly encouraging such laws. While this analysis derives centrally from the Baltic countries, it may have larger generalizable potential, as many countries within the EU with underdeveloped or unstable party systems have shown resistance to adopting pro-EU LGBT laws.Ph.D