ABSTRACT
In the late medieval period Estonia was ruled by Livonian Knights. Estonia was under Russian rule until 1917 when Estonia was granted local autonomy, but it was then occupied by Germany in 1918. In 1989, the Estonian Supreme Soviet unilaterally annulled the 1940 annexation by the Soviet Union, and in 1990 it abolished provisions in the constitution that gave a “leading role” to the Communist Party. Estonia uses open party list proportional representation with the distribution of seats in three rounds of counting according to a simple electoral quotient; the distribution of leftover “compensation mandates” taking place on the basis of a modified d’Hondt method. Most Estonian parties are on the centre-right, and targeted at the ethnic Estonian majority. Estonia’s first modern conservative party was the Estonian National Independence Party (ERSP) which was officially formed in 1988.
