Based on the findings of the previous third sector research in Estonia about the weak embedding of this sector in the society, the central question for the study concerns the causes for this. I attempt to trace these causes back to the political, historical, cultural and economic environment (embeddedness) of the third sector. The environment is not observed as static. The influence of time, path dependent developments, and the mechanisms of interplay of these paths – pointing to a certain dynamic – are essential in explaining the present weakness of the third sector. As the study has shown, its relations to the state sector and business sector are rather weak. This is mainly caused by the (neo)liberal politics Estonian governments have followed during the time since regaining independence; the experience of Estonian people of the Soviet past, but also by certain cultural characteristics.
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