{"id":{"repo_id":"vilnius","oai_identifier":"oai:vu.lt:elaba:35558549"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vilnius/oai:vu.lt:elaba:35558549","repository":{"repo_id":"vilnius","name":"Vilnius University","base_url":"https://epublications.vu.lt/oai"},"display":{"title":"Lietuvos Respublikos liberalų sąjūdžio reitingų pokyčiai. Makrolygmens tyrimas /","abstract":"Changes in ratings of Liberals' movement of the Republic of Lithuania. Macrolevel study Liberal parties were not very popular in Lithuania since the reestablishment of independence in 1990. They were constantly shifting, splitting into several different parties, merging together and changing their names. Together liberal parties were getting around 10 percent of total votes, with the exception being the year 2000. That was the most successful year for the liberals. There were three different “liberal” parties, who managed to get almost 40 percent of total votes when put together. Today, we are witnessing that the biggest liberal party right now – Liberals’ movement of the Republic of Lithuania (LRLS) – is on the rise and is the second most popular party in Lithuania. Three main hypotheses are brought up: LRLS attracted many undecided voters (1); LRLS rise in popularity is based on the young voters and generation change (2); LRLS absorbed the other liberal based parties’ votes (3). Analyzing several different population surveys we can see that many voters from the Lithuanian Social Democratic party (LSDP) and Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian democrat party consider LRLS as an alternative to their party and because of that would be willing to vote for it. Furthermore, many Labour party (DP) voters consider themselves liberal so they also could be a demographic for the Liberals’ movement. As the ratings of Labour party and LSDP plummeted in the recent years and LRLS rose, we can assume that many voters who are not loyal to those parties started to support LRLS. For the second hypothesis, it is clearly seen that voters 18 – 34 years old are the main supporters of Liberals’ movement and are the most liberal of all age groups. The voters who are 65 and older are least likely to support LRLS and are the least liberal. Seeing that LRLS campaign is focused on the internet and social networks, which are used by mostly younger people, they are attracting mostly younger voters and are capable of developing party identity in them, thus making them loyal voters. LRLS are the most benefiting party from the generation change. As the LRLS started to become more popular, there were two other liberal parties in Lithuania – Liberals and Center union (LiCS) and Union “Yes”, which later merged and became Lithuania’s freedom union (liberals). LRLS and LiCS voters were very similar on many characteristics and even in the 2012 Seimas elections, a big part of LRLS voters said they felt closer to LiCS, but still voted for LRLS. In 2014 and later, when LRLS started to become more and more popular, LiCS lost most of its support (presumably to LRLS) and merged with Union “Yes”. This liberal party is a bit different. It is more populistic as it is based on a few of Lithuania’s regions and personalities, primarily on its leader – Artūras Zuokas. When Zuokas lost the 2015 municipality and mayoral elections in Vilnius, his party ratings started to drop and now they are less than 1 percent. To conclude, LRLS are likely to keep their high political ratings until the Seimas elections and if they are able to keep attracting the young voters they should be popular in the future. However, Lithuania’s democratic system is still quite young and the electoral volatility is high, so the future is challenging to predict.","abstract_html":"Changes in ratings of Liberals' movement of the Republic of Lithuania. Macrolevel study Liberal parties were not very popular in Lithuania since the reestablishment of independence in 1990. They were constantly shifting, splitting into several different parties, merging together and changing their names. Together liberal parties were getting around 10 percent of total votes, with the exception being the year 2000. That was the most successful year for the liberals. There were three different “liberal” parties, who managed to get almost 40 percent of total votes when put together. Today, we are witnessing that the biggest liberal party right now – Liberals’ movement of the Republic of Lithuania (LRLS) – is on the rise and is the second most popular party in Lithuania. Three main hypotheses are brought up: LRLS attracted many undecided voters (1); LRLS rise in popularity is based on the young voters and generation change (2); LRLS absorbed the other liberal based parties’ votes (3). Analyzing several different population surveys we can see that many voters from the Lithuanian Social Democratic party (LSDP) and Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian democrat party consider LRLS as an alternative to their party and because of that would be willing to vote for it. Furthermore, many Labour party (DP) voters consider themselves liberal so they also could be a demographic for the Liberals’ movement. As the ratings of Labour party and LSDP plummeted in the recent years and LRLS rose, we can assume that many voters who are not loyal to those parties started to support LRLS. For the second hypothesis, it is clearly seen that voters 18 – 34 years old are the main supporters of Liberals’ movement and are the most liberal of all age groups. The voters who are 65 and older are least likely to support LRLS and are the least liberal. Seeing that LRLS campaign is focused on the internet and social networks, which are used by mostly younger people, they are attracting mostly younger voters and are capable of developing party identity in them, thus making them loyal voters. LRLS are the most benefiting party from the generation change. As the LRLS started to become more popular, there were two other liberal parties in Lithuania – Liberals and Center union (LiCS) and Union “Yes”, which later merged and became Lithuania’s freedom union (liberals). LRLS and LiCS voters were very similar on many characteristics and even in the 2012 Seimas elections, a big part of LRLS voters said they felt closer to LiCS, but still voted for LRLS. In 2014 and later, when LRLS started to become more and more popular, LiCS lost most of its support (presumably to LRLS) and merged with Union “Yes”. This liberal party is a bit different. It is more populistic as it is based on a few of Lithuania’s regions and personalities, primarily on its leader – Artūras Zuokas. When Zuokas lost the 2015 municipality and mayoral elections in Vilnius, his party ratings started to drop and now they are less than 1 percent. To conclude, LRLS are likely to keep their high political ratings until the Seimas elections and if they are able to keep attracting the young voters they should be popular in the future. However, Lithuania’s democratic system is still quite young and the electoral volatility is high, so the future is challenging to predict.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Česnulis, Darius,"],"institution":"Institutional Repository of Vilnius University","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Jastramskis, Mažvydas"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016","date_published":"2016","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:55:35Z","subjects":[],"languages":["lit"],"rights":["info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://repository.vu.lt/VU:ELABAETD35558549&prefLang=en_US","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Jastramskis, Mažvydas"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Česnulis, Darius,"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2016"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Institutional Repository of Vilnius University"]},{"key":"dc:relation","label":"Dc Relation","values":["https://epublications.vu.lt/object/elaba:35558549/35558549.pdf"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["lit"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://repository.vu.lt/VU:ELABAETD35558549&prefLang=en_US"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Changes in ratings of Liberals' movement of the Republic of Lithuania. Macrolevel study Liberal parties were not very popular in Lithuania since the reestablishment of independence in 1990. They were constantly shifting, splitting into several different parties, merging together and changing their names. Together liberal parties were getting around 10 percent of total votes, with the exception being the year 2000. That was the most successful year for the liberals. There were three different “liberal” parties, who managed to get almost 40 percent of total votes when put together. Today, we are witnessing that the biggest liberal party right now – Liberals’ movement of the Republic of Lithuania (LRLS) – is on the rise and is the second most popular party in Lithuania. Three main hypotheses are brought up: LRLS attracted many undecided voters (1); LRLS rise in popularity is based on the young voters and generation change (2); LRLS absorbed the other liberal based parties’ votes (3). Analyzing several different population surveys we can see that many voters from the Lithuanian Social Democratic party (LSDP) and Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian democrat party consider LRLS as an alternative to their party and because of that would be willing to vote for it. Furthermore, many Labour party (DP) voters consider themselves liberal so they also could be a demographic for the Liberals’ movement. As the ratings of Labour party and LSDP plummeted in the recent years and LRLS rose, we can assume that many voters who are not loyal to those parties started to support LRLS. For the second hypothesis, it is clearly seen that voters 18 – 34 years old are the main supporters of Liberals’ movement and are the most liberal of all age groups. The voters who are 65 and older are least likely to support LRLS and are the least liberal. Seeing that LRLS campaign is focused on the internet and social networks, which are used by mostly younger people, they are attracting mostly younger voters and are capable of developing party identity in them, thus making them loyal voters. LRLS are the most benefiting party from the generation change. As the LRLS started to become more popular, there were two other liberal parties in Lithuania – Liberals and Center union (LiCS) and Union “Yes”, which later merged and became Lithuania’s freedom union (liberals). LRLS and LiCS voters were very similar on many characteristics and even in the 2012 Seimas elections, a big part of LRLS voters said they felt closer to LiCS, but still voted for LRLS. In 2014 and later, when LRLS started to become more and more popular, LiCS lost most of its support (presumably to LRLS) and merged with Union “Yes”. This liberal party is a bit different. It is more populistic as it is based on a few of Lithuania’s regions and personalities, primarily on its leader – Artūras Zuokas. When Zuokas lost the 2015 municipality and mayoral elections in Vilnius, his party ratings started to drop and now they are less than 1 percent. To conclude, LRLS are likely to keep their high political ratings until the Seimas elections and if they are able to keep attracting the young voters they should be popular in the future. However, Lithuania’s democratic system is still quite young and the electoral volatility is high, so the future is challenging to predict."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Lietuvos Respublikos liberalų sąjūdžio reitingų pokyčiai. Makrolygmens tyrimas /","Changes in ratings of liberals' movement of the republic of lithuania. macrolevel study."]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Jastramskis, Mažvydas"],"dc:creator":["Česnulis, Darius,"],"dc:date":["2016"],"dc:description":["Changes in ratings of Liberals' movement of the Republic of Lithuania. Macrolevel study Liberal parties were not very popular in Lithuania since the reestablishment of independence in 1990. They were constantly shifting, splitting into several different parties, merging together and changing their names. Together liberal parties were getting around 10 percent of total votes, with the exception being the year 2000. That was the most successful year for the liberals. There were three different “liberal” parties, who managed to get almost 40 percent of total votes when put together. Today, we are witnessing that the biggest liberal party right now – Liberals’ movement of the Republic of Lithuania (LRLS) – is on the rise and is the second most popular party in Lithuania. Three main hypotheses are brought up: LRLS attracted many undecided voters (1); LRLS rise in popularity is based on the young voters and generation change (2); LRLS absorbed the other liberal based parties’ votes (3). Analyzing several different population surveys we can see that many voters from the Lithuanian Social Democratic party (LSDP) and Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian democrat party consider LRLS as an alternative to their party and because of that would be willing to vote for it. Furthermore, many Labour party (DP) voters consider themselves liberal so they also could be a demographic for the Liberals’ movement. As the ratings of Labour party and LSDP plummeted in the recent years and LRLS rose, we can assume that many voters who are not loyal to those parties started to support LRLS. For the second hypothesis, it is clearly seen that voters 18 – 34 years old are the main supporters of Liberals’ movement and are the most liberal of all age groups. The voters who are 65 and older are least likely to support LRLS and are the least liberal. Seeing that LRLS campaign is focused on the internet and social networks, which are used by mostly younger people, they are attracting mostly younger voters and are capable of developing party identity in them, thus making them loyal voters. LRLS are the most benefiting party from the generation change. As the LRLS started to become more popular, there were two other liberal parties in Lithuania – Liberals and Center union (LiCS) and Union “Yes”, which later merged and became Lithuania’s freedom union (liberals). LRLS and LiCS voters were very similar on many characteristics and even in the 2012 Seimas elections, a big part of LRLS voters said they felt closer to LiCS, but still voted for LRLS. In 2014 and later, when LRLS started to become more and more popular, LiCS lost most of its support (presumably to LRLS) and merged with Union “Yes”. This liberal party is a bit different. It is more populistic as it is based on a few of Lithuania’s regions and personalities, primarily on its leader – Artūras Zuokas. When Zuokas lost the 2015 municipality and mayoral elections in Vilnius, his party ratings started to drop and now they are less than 1 percent. To conclude, LRLS are likely to keep their high political ratings until the Seimas elections and if they are able to keep attracting the young voters they should be popular in the future. However, Lithuania’s democratic system is still quite young and the electoral volatility is high, so the future is challenging to predict."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://repository.vu.lt/VU:ELABAETD35558549&prefLang=en_US"],"dc:language":["lit"],"dc:publisher":["Institutional Repository of Vilnius University"],"dc:relation":["https://epublications.vu.lt/object/elaba:35558549/35558549.pdf"],"dc:rights":["info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess"],"dc:title":["Lietuvos Respublikos liberalų sąjūdžio reitingų pokyčiai. Makrolygmens tyrimas /","Changes in ratings of liberals' movement of the republic of lithuania. macrolevel study."],"dc:type":["info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:55:35Z"}