| Chronicles of a ‘Failed State’ |
| Vjačeslavs Dombrovskis |
People in power often choose their entourage (public officials) by attaching a large weight to loyalty and near zero weight to competence. It is natural for politicians to seek loyalty. However, when competence gets neglected, the results can be disastrous. And that’s exactly why the disaster has happened. |
| Published on: 16.06.2009 |
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| A Matter of Trust |
| Ksavjē Lands |
Trust is much easier to undermine that it is to create, and, in general, we are much better off in a society where we are able to trust one another than in one in which we are not. |
| Published on: 04.03.2009 |
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| Devil in the detail of government restructuring plan |
| Iveta Kažoka |
If implemented, the new government restructuring plan could significantly reduce transparency and civic participation in government decision-making. |
| Published on: 20.02.2009 |
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| Say ‘sorry’, dear bureaucrat |
| Iveta Reinholde |
I believe that in order to consolidate society it is crucially important for the public administration to admit its mistakes and to state its willingness to reduce the impact of these mistakes. |
| Published on: 06.02.2009 |
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| “Nothing Special”: The Economic Crisis in Latvia |
| Vjačeslavs Dombrovskis |
A prudent government would have kept a cap on its spending and invested into reserves in order to cushion the inevitable heavy blow that would follow the 'credit orgy'. The Latvian government did none of it. |
| Published on: 16.12.2008 |
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| Subversion of Democracy? |
| Vjačeslavs Dombrovskis |
| There is convincing evidence that political connections are pervasive in Latvia and that they provide benefits to the connected firms. This implies that the risk that our democracy is a mere 'façade' is too high to be ignored. |
| Published on: 12.08.2008 |
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| Speaking for the Voiceless |
| Axel Gosseries and Benedek Jàvor |
On top of being a good futurologist, the ombudsman for future generations will also have to specify what the future generations would be entitled to expect from us. |
| Published on: 22.07.2008 |
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| Don't go dirty, don't go nuclear |
| Rita Ruduša |
| Energy companies are not denying that there is a climate change, but they are in denial over their own role in it. What we need is a paradigm shift. |
| Published on: 13.05.2008 |
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| Dangerous liaisons |
| Vjačeslavs Dombrovskis |
| De jure, we have embraced the Western tradition, which sees the state manily as a service provider, but de facto our minds are still loyal to the concept of the state conceived by Lenin, the state designed to enslave and exploit the individuals. |
| Published on: 01.04.2008 |
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| Jaunais Laiks: On the abyss? |
| Daunis Auers |
| Because Jaunais Laiks appears to be incapable of developing any discernible economic, social or foreign policies, it may be time for the party to return to basics and focus on Einars Repse and his almost messianic mission to fight graft. |
| Published on: 19.02.2008 |
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| Why Ethics Matters |
| Ksavjē Lands |
| History has constantly taught us that deceiving people about democracy is perhaps one of the most harmful political calculi ever made. |
| Published on: 02.01.2008 |
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| The Machiavellian succesors of Latvijas Ceļš |
| Daunis Auers |
| Rather than being viewed as Christian-conservative or liberal movements, both parties "Latvijas ceļš" and "Latvijas Pirmā partija" are better understood as Machiavellian creations united by a unquenchable thirst for political office. |
| Published on: 04.09.2007 |
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| Prisoner of Azkaban: Prospects for 'Green Farmers' |
| Ivars Ījabs |
| After the arrest of Aivars Lembergs, the "green farmers" will never, ever be the same. |
| Published on: 02.04.2007 |
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| The New European Politics: 'Us vs. Them' (interview with Ivan Krastev) |
| Rita Ruduša |
| Populist politics based in the clash between 'us' and 'them' is taking over the European political stage replacing the traditional political division into left and right. Russia's regime seems populist too, but in the essence it is exactly the opposite. |
| Published on: 23.05.2006 |
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| Will the Red Rose Bloom? |
| It is unlikely that this moderate rise in trade union activism will be translated into significant left-wing parliamentary representation, or an organized left wing movement. It is being held back by ethnic cleavege, political fragmentation and flawed image of social democrats. |
| Published on: 18.10.2005 |
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