Kõneaine kujundamine kui poliitilise toetuse mõjutamise vahend vanemahüvitise seaduseelnõu näitel

For a young parliamentary country it is usual that several parties form coalition. Also an opposition consists of many smaller political parties. Coalition has its own role in parliamentary systems but the experience has shown that coalition parties have limited opportunities for implementing their policies. Does it mean that opposition parties that partly cannot carry out their programmes and promises automatically lose their electors’ support? What possibilities do opposition parties have for increasing their constituency? In this paper under the name “Agenda Setting as a Tool for Influencing the Public Support. On the Example of the Parent Subvention Bill” I have analysed what possibilities do opposition parties have for introducing their viewpoints and setting political and media agenda. In the bachelor thesis I have dwelled upon party Mõõdukad after elections in 2003 when they became opposition party. Their parent subvention topic is one of the best examples of successful opposition party activities in Estonian modern political culture. This paper is based on the seminar thesis “Opositsioonierakonna võimalused toetuse võitmiseks poliitilise kõneaine kujundamise abil” prepared by Margus Mets, Olavi Paide and Henri Käsper. In this paper I have compared these results with another party – Reformierakond – that has also given parent subvention very important role in their political promises and communication. The aim of the theses is to give a detailed overview of the activities of Mõõdukad and Reformierakond in Parliament during a period April-December 2003 and also compare these results with public support to these parties. The analyses are based on Parliament stenographs, media texts and TNS Emor political poll about supporting political parties. All in all, in a matter of parent subvention Mõõdukad’s activities in Parliament were quite successful. As a result of their activities one of biggest public discussions was given rise in Estonian society and it still goes on. Consequently opposition parties can influence social processes by setting political agenda with their activities in Parliament. In parent subvention matter Mõõdukad’s activities had all classical elements of political campaign. Besides that they distributed more press releases and wrote more articles about the subject compared to Reformierakond. Mõõdukad’s opinion was represented in almost all media debates about this topic. Hereby the hypothesis found proof – Mõõdukad’s activities in Parliament and media, during the period when parent subvention bill was processed, formed political agenda of Estonian society to a great extent and through that the party also gained bigger public support. This example demonstrated that also opposition party has possibilities to gain public support through setting political agenda, activities in Parliament and communication.http://tartu.ester.ee/record=b2122078~S1*es