the finnish political system_turku (1)

7/25/2019 The Finnish Political System_Turku (1)

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THE FINNISH POLITICAL SYSTEM

(5 ECTS)

Tapio Raunio ([email protected])

Ba!"roun# an# o$%&ti'& The objective of the course is to introduce the students to the Finnish

political system and in particular to analyse how the Finnish system has

changed since the Second World War

The Finnish political system has normally been categorized as semi-presidential, with the executive functions divided between an electedpresident and a government that is accountable to the parliament!owever, recent constitutional reforms together with the end of the "oldWar and membership in the #uropean $nion have transformed Finnish

politics The new constitution, in force since %&&&, completed a periodof far-reaching constitutional change that curtailed presidential powersand strengthened the roles of the government and the parliament inFinnish politics



Cour& or"aniation The course consists of a lecture series and an essay The lectures are

held on Thursdays '()-(*+ and Fridays '*-(%+ in ub The dates andtopics of the lectures are.

(/( olitical culture 0 1oting and elections (2( olitical parties %( arliament %3( 4overnment 5(( resident 0 "orporatism and the welfare state (% Foreign policy 6 #uropean integration 0 Swedish-spea7ing

minority 0 "onclusion

The lecture series is followed by a written exam '% #"TS+ The essay'(&-(% pages, font size (%, (8 spacing+ must be handed in by 2 9arch'5 #"TS+



POLITICAL CLTRE

T*& *o+o"&n&it, of t*& popu-ation

The population of Finland was in %&(% 3 million and the total

population is projected to stay at approximately the current levelin the near future : ;healthy< fertility rates in comparison with the#uropean average '(2) children born0woman, %&&*+

The official languages are Finnish, spo7en by *& = of thepopulation, and Swedish, the first language of 3 = of thecitizens

>pproximately /2 = of Finns are ?utherans "ulturally Finland is very homogeneous The share of foreigners

residing in the country is less than 5 = of the total population,approximately one-third of whom are @ussians and #stonians



nitar, ountr, (tron" &ntr&/)

Finland is a unitary country that has no democratically elected regionalinstitutions

The autonomous Swedish-spea7ing province of Aland has

approximately %),3&& inhabitants The country is in %&(5 divided into 5%& municipalities '2 in %&&(+, themajority of which are in terms of population small rural municipalities

While municipal governments are responsible for much of the totalgovernment spending, the sub-national level does not constitute animportant constraint on national government The spending of the localgovernments is mainly related to implementing national legislation

'primarily education, health care and social security+ Bespite the introduction of reforms since the (**&s that have to acertain extent strengthened the regional administrations, Finlandremains a unitary state, without any plans to introduce democraticallyelected regional institutions



No tra#ition of #ir&t #&+ora, Cational referendums, which are only consultative, have been used twice. in

(*5( on the prohibition of alcohol, and in (** on #$ membership The new constitutional amendment '%&(%+ strengthens possibilities for direct

democracy by introducing the citizensD initiative >t least 3& &&& signatures isneeded to submit an initiative for a new law to the #dus7unta

C&ntr&0p&rip*&r, -&a'a"& Territorially Finland covers 552 5% 7m%, )2 = of which is forest, (& = water,

and ) = cultivated land The eastern and northern regions are sparsely populated and an increasing

share of the people lives in the more urbanized southern parts of the countryThe capital !elsin7i together with its surrounding areas has above one millioninhabitants

Endustrialization and the move to cities happened later than in most #uropeancountries

While agriculture is not economically very important, agriculture and countrysidein general have a strong sentimental value for the Finns : the strategy of tyingpeople to the landD 'small farms, forest owners+



Lan# of o$%&ti'&/ +&#ia1

The Cordics buy and read more newspapers than other #uropeans > high level of trust in media > radical decline in the share of newspapers that are officially or

publicly affiliated with political parties Emmediately after the Second World War in (*), only just above one-third '52 =+ of all newspapers issued between three and seven daysa wee7 were not affiliated with political parties >lmost half of them'*2 =+ were affiliated with the non-left parties and (3 = with leftistparties

Gy (*2) the share of neutralD newspapers had risen to )25 =, and in

%&&& the share was *)) = The concentration of media ownership together with the decline of

party-affiliated newspapers means that the news content of the media'excluding the Enternet+ has become increasingly similar, with lessalternative views offered to the citizens



Citi2&n attitu#& an# partiipation

Cordic citizens place more trust in their national parliament, their legal system,their police force, their politicians, their government, and in democracy in theirown country than #uropeans on average

!igh levels trust in fellow citizens : such interpersonal trust has a positive effecton political participation Cordic citizens also place more faith in the $nited Cations but are not eager to

transfer policy-ma7ing powers to the #$ !igh levels of political participation : strong civil society based on a broad range

of interest groups and citizensD associations @elatively high levels of turnout 'but lower in Finland than in in the other Cordic

countries+ @elative to population size, far more newspapers are published and sold in the

Cordic states than in other #uropean countries Hpenness in administration 'access to documents+ combined with a very low

level of corruption



Bor#&r-an#/

Finland shares borders with @ussia '(5& 7m+, Corway '/%/ 7m+, and Sweden')( 7m+, with in addition about (%3& 7ilometres of coastline

!aving formed a part of the Swedish empire since the thirteenth century, in (2&*Finland became an autonomous 4rand Buchy of the @ussian empire

En (2)& Finland acIuired her own currency, the markka or Finnish mar7The constitution adopted in (*&) established : as the first #uropean country :universal suffrage >t the same time the old four-estate assembly was replacedby the unicameral national parliament, the #dus7unta, with the first electionsheld in (*&/

Finland declared independence from @ussia on ) Becember (*(/ > short butbitter civil war between @eds and Whites followed in (*(2 and was won by the

governmentDs forces led by 4eneral 9annerheim The constitution adopted in (*(* gave Finland a republican form of governmentcombined with strong powers for the president



The semi-presidential system was adopted after plans to import a monarch from4ermany had failed En June (*(2 the government introduced a proposal for amonarchical constitution While the #dus7unta approved the initiative, a minorityof 9s was able to defer the matter over the next elections The monarchistschanged their strategy, arguing that the parliament itself should elect the monarchEn Hctober (*(2 the #dus7unta elected Karl Friedrich of !esse, a 4erman prince,as the King of Finland !owever, the monarchistsD hopes were destroyed by

4ermanyDs defeat in the First World War Buring the Second World War Finland fought two wars against the Soviet $nion,the Winter War '(*5*-&+ and the "ontinuation War '(*(-+, and in accordancewith the armistice agreement with the Soviet $nion, fought 4erman forces in?apland in (*-3

>s part of the peace settlement, Finland was forced to concede a significantamount of territory, mainly from the Karelia region, to the Soviet $nion The peacesettlement also led to close economic and political ties with her eastern

neighbour, consolidated in the Treaty of Friendship, "ooperation and 9utual >ssistance 'F"9>+ signed in (*2 The "old War period was in Finland dominated by maintaining cordial relations

with the Soviet $nion While the direct interference of the Soviet leadership inFinnish politics has often been exaggerated, the Finnish political elitenevertheless was always forced to anticipate reactions from 9oscow, and this setfirm limits to FinlandDs cooperation with west #uropean and Cordic countries



The era of compulsory consensusD Following instructions from 9oscow, Finland was forced to reject

9arshall >id in (*/ En (*33 Finland joined the $nited Cations and theCordic "ouncil

En (*)( Finland became an associate member of the #uropean FreeTrade >ssociation '#FT>+, with the Kremlin ruling out full #FT>

membership The end of the "old War changed the situation dramatically, with the

F"9> abolished in (**( Finland applied for #$ membership in (**% and joined the #$ in (**3 Finland joined the third stage of the #conomic and 9onetary $nion

'#9$+ among the first countries : and has played an active role in the

further development of the #$D foreign and security policy

The history of Finland as a borderlandD still influences in many waysnational political culture and behaviour : neutral borderland betweenthe two power blocs 'or between east and west+



Bai Fat a$out Fin-an#

Popu-ation 3 million '%&(%+ Offiia- -an"ua"& Finnish '*& =+, Swedish '3 =+ R&-i"ion ?utheran '/2 =+ T&rritor, 552 (3 7m% ')2 = forest, (& = water+ Lan# $oun#ari& @ussia '(5& 7m+, Corway '/%/ 7m+, Sweden ')( 7m+

> brief chronology of Finnish modern history

346 Finland becomes an autonomous 4rand Buchy of the @ussian empire 367 The old four-estate assembly replaced by the unicameral national parliament, the

#dus7unta, with universal suffrage established as the first country in #urope Firstparliamentary elections are held next year

3638 Beclaration of independence 3634 "ivil war between @eds and Whites 36960:5 Second World War Finland fights two wars against the Soviet $nion, the Winter

War '(*5*-&+ and the "ontinuation War '(*(-+ Following the armistice with the

Soviet $nion, Finnish forces drive the 4erman army out of ?apland in (*-3 36:4 Treaty of Friendship, "ooperation and 9utual >ssistance signed with the Soviet

$nion The pact eventually lapses in (**( 3665 Finland joins the #uropean $nion ; The new constitution enters into force, ending the era of president-led politics



Con&nu #&+ora, <

on&nua- t,-& of po-iti1

=&finition of on&nu> general agreement the judgment arrived at by most of those concerned group solidarity in sentiment and belief

Es consensus the way of the countryD or does it result from institutionsL Cordic political culture is often categorized as having an emphasis on

compromise and consensus ;Co image of modern Swedish politics is more widely celebrated than

that of the rational, pragmatic Swede, studying problems carefully,consulting widely, and devising solutions that reflect centuries ofpractice at the art of compromise< '>nton (*2&. (32+

Gut. also a lot of conflicts between the organized wor7ing class andcapital 'a class compromise+

Emportance of the (*5&s 'era of the 4reat Bepression+. @ed-greencoalitions were formed in all Cordic countries between social democratsand agrarian parties 'hence marginalizing extreme alternatives+



Con&nua- f&atur& in Finni* po-iti

9ultiparty governments artisan cooperation across the left-right dimension

"orporatism Welfare state Becision-ma7ing in foreign and #$ policies Beferment rule 'abolished in the early (**&s+

Cordic political systems are based on a low level oftransparency, with negotiations between the actors almostalways ta7ing place behind closed doors : in the government, inparliamentary committees 'wor7ing parliamentD+, and incentralized labour mar7et agreements 'eg wage bargaining+



T*& Nor#i +o#&-1

Seven 7ey features of an idealD Cordic model of government '>rter(***. ()-(*+

(+ Bominant or strong social democratic parties

%+ Wor7ing multi-party systems5+ "onsensual approach to policy-ma7ing+ "onsultation with pressure groups3+ "entralized collective bargaining)+ >n active state/+ "lose relations within political elite producing pragmatism

Ar"u+&nt> there are significant differences between the five Cordiccountries, but there are also enough similarities for a Cordic model toexist



?OTIN AN= ELECTIONS

T*& &-&tora- ,t&+

The %&& members of the unicameral #dus7unta are elected for a four-year term'three years until (*3+

The country is divided into one single-member and ( multi-member electoraldistricts, with the Aland Eslands entitled to one seat regardless of its population

#ach district is a separate subunit and there are no national adjustment seatsThe formula used for allocating seats to districts is the method of largestremainders, with the dD!ondt method used in allocating seats to parties

@egarding district magnitude 'excluding the single-member districts+, from (*&/to %&&/ the smallest district had between ) and * seats while between (* and5 9s were elected from the largest district En the %&(( elections districtmagnitude ranged from ) 'South Savo, Corth Karelia+ to 53 '$usimaa+ Theaverage district magnitude is (55 : or (% when including only the multi-

member constituencies There is no legal threshold, but in the %&(( elections the DeffectiveD threshold

ranged from %,2 '$usimaa+ to (,5 'South Savo, Corth Karelia+



The proportionality of the electoral system is high >s the dD!ondt formulafavours large parties, most small parties join electoral alliances, and without thisoption proportionality between votes and seats would be lower

Within electoral alliances the distribution of seats is determined by the pluralityprinciple, regardless of the total number of votes won by the respective partiesforming the alliance !ence no account is ta7en of the relative vote shares of thealliance partners

For example, let us assume that an electoral alliance between party > and partyG wins a total of %&,&&& votes in an electoral district, and that this entitles thealliance to three 9s, with (3,&&& of the votes going to candidates of party >and 3,&&& to candidates of party G !owever, what matters are the vote totals ofthe individual candidates, and hence party G can benefit from the alliance if itcan concentrate its votes on one candidate in that district, as the threecandidates with the most votes will be elected to the parliament

Thus smaller parties have tended to enter electoral alliances with larger parties,

with particularly the "entre arty systematically entering into alliances withsmaller parties such as the "hristian Bemocrats articularly the "hristianBemocrats have benefited from electoral alliances, with %05 of all the seats wonby the party attributable to electoral alliances 'aloheimo 6 Sundberg %&&*+



Can#i#at& &-&tion

The #lectoral >ct '(*)*+ and the #lection >ct '(*/3+ brought major changes tocandidate selection $ntil then the lac7 of legal regulations gave the parties arelatively free hand in ma7ing their own arrangements, and this resulted inprocesses that were influenced or even determined by national party executives

>n important tool for parties was the right to field the same candidate in severalconstituencies !owever, since (*)* the same candidate can compete in only oneconstituency, thereby reducing the influence of the party leadership

Since the reforms carried out in (*/3, candidate selection has been based onmembership balloting within electoral districts >t the district level, registeredpolitical parties and votersD associations with at least (&& persons have the right tonominate candidates, but only parties can enter into electoral alliances

arties must use membership balloting in constituencies where the number of

nominees exceeds the official upper limit of candidates 'ie at most ( candidatesper electoral district or, if more than ( representatives are elected from thedistrict, at most the number of candidates elected+

> local branch or a group of at least (3 members has the right to nominatecandidates > group of at least 5& members from different branches has the sameright >fter the balloting, the district party executive can replace a maximum of (0of the candidates '(03 in the Social Bemocratic arty+



While such list manipulation by the district party executive does occur in mostdistricts, it is primarily explained by either candidate refusals or the need to forma more balanced list by correcting, for example, the geographical oroccupational bias of the candidates

The national-level party organisation is almost completely excluded from thecandidate selection process The national party leadership has thus only limitedpossibilities to influence candidate selection at the district level

Op&n/ -it

The candidates are placed on the party lists in alphabetical order The exceptionis the Social Bemocratic arty, which employs 'at least in some electoraldistricts+ a system in which the placing of the candidates on the list isdetermined by their success in the membership ballots, with the candidate

winning the most votes heading the list 1oters choose among individual candidates >dvance voting is very common : in the %&(( elections 3 = cast their votes

during the advance voting period which begins on Wednesday eleven daysbefore election day, and ends abroad on Saturday eight days and in Finland onTuesday five days before election day



T*& $a--ot pap&r



This open listD system means that the electoral system is highly candidate-centred : and this is reflected in

citizensD voting behaviour campaigning parliamentary wor7

"itizensD voting behaviour

There is arguably more competition within than between parties "itizens have been as7ed in a survey which one, the candidate or the party, has

been more important in guiding their voting behaviour '>fter all, which do youthin7 was more important in your voting, the party or the candidateLD+

There has been very little change over time, and in the %&(( elections 33 =viewed the party as more important and = the candidate as more important

Gut. in the %&(( elections %* = replied that they chose the best candidateirrespective of which party she represented, while )2 = responded that they firstchose what party to vote for and then the best candidate from the list of thatparty



"ampaigning

The wea7 involvement of the national-level party organisation in candidateselection is also reflected in campaigning Buring the campaign, the nationalparty organisation and leadership primarily act as a bac7ground resource,providing the local branches with necessary campaign material and, through theparty leader, giving the party a public face

The actual wor7 of collecting funds and spreading the message is theresponsibility of candidatesD support groups, with private donations beingimportant in financing candidatesD campaigns

arliamentary wor7

The candidate-centred character of the electoral system is also reflected in

parliamentary wor7 While Finnish parties can be characterised as rather centralised between

elections, the decentralised candidate selection process limits the disciplinarypowers of party leaders vis-M-vis 9s, as re-election see7ing representativesneed to cultivate support among their constituents



>part from the candidate selection mechanism, Finnish 9s are also otherwisestrongly present in local politics The clear majority of representatives are eithermembers of municipal councils or belong to the executive organs of theirlocal0district party branches

!owever, the traditionally strong role of the state, both in terms of legislativepowers and of identity, means that 9s focus first and foremost on influencingnational legislation

4roup cohesion has risen over time, with most party groups being Iuite unitaryin their voting behaviour in recent decades : measured with @ice index, groupcohesion was around *& = between (**( and %&&) 'ajala 6 Ja7ulin %&&/+

Conetheless, group cohesion in the #dus7unta continues to be lower than in theother Cordic legislatures, with Finnish 9s also placing much less value ongroup discipline than their colleagues in the other Cordic parliaments

Furthermore, the share of 9s with no previous experience in party politics hasincreased since the early (*2&s, and it may well be that these representativesdo not share the same norms regarding party behaviour as those held by 9swith long service in the party before entering the parliament



Proportiona-it, in t*& ;9 E#u!unta &-&tion



POLITICAL PARTIES

The parliamentarisation of the Finnish political system and theconcomitant reduction in the powers of the president have considerablystrengthened the role of political parties in the policy process

Part, ,t&+

9easured by the number of effective parties, the Finnish party systemis the most fragmented among the West #uropean countries, with anaverage of 3( effective parties between (*3 and %&&&

Co party has at any point since the declaration of independence comeeven close to winning a majority of the seats in the parliament 'the all-

time high is %25 = won by SB in the (**3 elections+, and the lac7 ofa clearly dominant party 'such as the Social Bemocrats in Sweden+ hasnecessitated cooperation between the main parties

Endeed, in Finland it is rare for a single party or electoral alliance to wina majority of the votes even within a single electoral district



The years after the Second World War can be roughly divided into two periods First, until about (*/& the party system remained stable. class voting was

high, electoral volatility was low, and practically no new parties entered the#dus7unta

>s the class cleavage was crucial in the emergence of Finnish parties, it isnot surprising that since then class dealignment has contributed to

increasing electoral instability, both in terms of party system fragmentationand electoral volatility

!owever, despite the entry into the #dus7unta of new parties such as the 4reen?eague and the now defunct @ural arty, overall the party system has beenremar7ably stable, with the three main parties : the Social Bemocratic arty, the"entre arty and the Cational "oalition : and also the smaller parties largelyholding on to their vote shares in recent decades 'at least until the %&((elections+

Ceither lower turnout nor increasing volatility led to any support for extremistparties, but the %&(( elections saw the brea7through of the populist The Finns



C-&a'a"& trutur&

The main cleavage has traditionally been the left:right dimension Gut since the early (**&s the rural:urban or centre:periphery divide

has arguably become the second main cleavage, partly because #$and globalisation issues have entered internal party debates

The integration0independence dimension is entwined with the centre:periphery or rural:urban cleavage, and this cleavage may becomemore salient, particularly if ideological differences on the left-rightdimension get smaller and as 9s and party leaders are more pro-integrationist than their voters

The "entre draws most of its support from the less populated areas,

while the supporters of the Cational "oalition, the Social Bemocratsand the 4reen ?eague reside mainly in urban centers En the %&((elections The Finns performed remar7ably evenly throughout thefourteen mainland constituencies

There is also a language cleavage, as the Swedish eopleDs artyrepresents the interests of the Swedish-spea7ing minority



Part, +&+$&r*ip

Bisengagement from politics in general, and from parties in particular, is evidentin declining party memberships

arty membership increased until the (*2&s, after which there has been a sharp

decline En the (*)&s almost %& = of the electorate were party members, but bythe first years of the %(st century that share had fallen down to around /-* = The "entre arty and the Swedish eopleDs arty boast higher membership

figures than other parties The grassroots organization of the "entre hastraditionally been very strong >s for the Swedish eopleDs arty, its strongpresence in Swedish-spea7ing municipalities ma7es it often difficult to draw theline between party members and non-party members

arty members have become less active within their organisations, with an

increasing share of party members not attending party meetings nor ta7ing partin campaign activities The number of local party branches has also decreased since the early (*2&s



?otin" an# part, atta*+&nt

Turnout has fallen fairly consistently since the (*)&s En the elections held in the(*)&s, on average 23& = of the electorate cast their votes The figure was 2&2= in the (*/&s, /2/ = in the (*2&s, /&2 = in the (**&s, and )22 = in the firstdecade of the %(st century ')/* = in the election held in %&&/, the lowest figureafter the Second World War+

En the %&(( election turnout was /&3 = The higher turnout is probablyexplained by the rise of The Finns and the associated higher level ofcontestation and interest in the elections

The share of voters that decide their party during the election campaign has alsoincreased En the (*)) elections // = and in the (**( elections )& = of thevoters chose their party over two months before the elections, but in the %&((

elections this figure had fallen down to 5/ = There are also some signs of wea7ening party identification Whereas 3* = ofthe voters reported identification with one of the parties in (*/3, the share was)( = in (**(, but down to / = in %&&5

These findings are in line with developments in other #uropean establisheddemocracies



Turnout in E#u!unta &-&tion 36:50;33



Parti& an# pu$-i offi&

The public funding of parties has strengthened party organisations oliticalparties were first legally recognised in the (*)* arty >ct, which gave them aprivileged status in elections and in the allocation of public funds

Goth extra-parliamentary and parliamentary party organisations receive publicfunding based on the share of seats won in the most recent parliamentary

election arties that are represented in parliament have been publicly fundedsince (*)2 and parliamentary party groups since (*)/ En addition to direct party funding, parties also receive money for other purposes

'for distributing information, election campaigns, affiliated organisations etc+ arties without parliamentary seats do not get public funding !ence the system

offers the established parties protection against potential new rivals : in line withthe cartel party thesis 'Katz 6 9air (**3+

?egislation about party funding and campaign expenditure has been tightened in

recent years : both in terms of how much money candidates can receive fromindividual donors and reporting reIuirements about campaign expenditure Thenewest legislation was enacted mainly in response to the party finance scandalsthat followed the %&&/ elections



Ba-an& of po&r a+on" nationa- part, or"an

@ecent constitutional amendments 'and #$ membership+ have undoubtedlystrengthened the position of the prime minister, who has emerged as the realpolitical leader of the country

4iven that government formation is no longer to subject to presidentialinterventions, the role of party leaders has become particularly important in

electoral campaigns and in forming and maintaining cabinet coalitions While the full plenary and the ministerial committees have a prominent place in

governmental decision-ma7ing, the most important decisions are ta7en indiscussions between the leaders of the coalition parties This strengthens theautonomy of party leaders vis-M-vis other party organs in governing parties

>lso the role of parliamentary groups has become stronger The overallwea7ening of the party organizations 'both at the local and national level+, theincrease in the resources of party groups and individual 9s, and the more

detailed nature of issues on the political agenda 'with other national-level partyorgans seldom discussing individual legislative initiatives+ have all changed thebalance of power in favour of #dus7unta

These findings are in line with developments in other established #uropeandemocracies



T*& &art*Dua!& &-&tion of Apri- ;33

an# t*& ri& of T*& Finn



The #dus7unta parliamentary elections of >pril %&(( were nothing shortof extraordinary, producing major changes to the party system andattracting considerable international media attention

The #urosceptical and populist The Finns won (*( = of the votes, astaggering increase of (3 = from the %&&/ elections and the largestever increase in support achieved by a single party in #dus7untaelections

>ll other parties represented in the #dus7unta lost votes These were also the first #dus7unta elections where #$ featured

prominently in the debates, with the problems facing the eurozone andthe role of Finland in the bail-out measures becoming the main topic ofthe campaign

The exceptional nature of the elections is largely explained by thedevelopments that had unravelled since the previous #dus7untaelections held four years earlier



Finland had been governed since the %&&/ election by a centre-right coalitionled by the "entre that found itself by mid-term in serious trouble due to partyfinance scandals While the government stayed in office, there was nonethelessan aw7ward sense of sleaze permeating the domestic political landscape

En spring %&(& the decisions to save 4reece out of its near-ban7ruptcy and therelated euro stabilization measures resulted in unexpectedly heated debates inthe #dus7unta

>s first Ereland, and then ortugal just before the elections, followed the path of4reece and reIuired bail-out measures, the debate just intensified in the run-upto the elections

The main beneficiary of the party finance scandals and of the euro crisis wasundoubtedly The Finns who could attac7 the euro stabilization measures withmore credibility than the traditional parties of government

The partyDs support had more than doubled in the previous elections to the#dus7unta, from () = in %&&5 to ( = in %&&/, and the rise of the party hadcontinued in the %&&2 municipal elections in which it captured 3 = of the votes

Gut the real turning point had come in the %&&* # elections, with The Finnscapturing *2 = of the votes and their first-ever seat in the arliament 'won byparty chair Timo Soini, the vote 7ing of the elections+



?i7e the %&(( elections, the %&&* # elections was strongly characterised as aclash between The Finns and the mainstream parties #ssentially the old partiesDthus adopted a strategy of collective defence N see7ing to contain The Finns bydepicting them as an irresponsible and even outright dangerous political force thatis all tal7 and no action

En terms of policy influence, the rise of The Finns has caused the old partiesD toalter their policies, especially concerning the #$ and immigration articularlynoteworthy has been the more critical discourse about #urope, which might

indicate changes to national integration policy

T*& Finn> a popu-it part, The Finns are the natural successor to the populist @ural arty 'S9+, having

been established on the ruins of the latter in (**3 arty leader Soini, who has led The Finns since (**/, was the last party secretary

of the S9, wrote his masterDs thesis on populism, and has openly ac7nowledged1ei77o 1ennamo, the eIually charismatic and controversial leader of the S9, tobe his role model in politics

The programmes of The Finns identify the party as a populist movement, with the%&(( election programme in particular distinguishing the populistD version ofdemocracy advocated by the party from the more elitistD version of democracythat characterises modern democracies



The defence of the common man or forgotten peopleD and attac7ing the'corrupt+ power elite are the cornerstone of the partyDs ideology

The Finns are on the left-right dimension Iuite centrist and even centre-left'strong defence of the welfare state+

The emphasis put on FinnishnessD and protecting national culture and solidarityalso indicate that The Finns bear many similarities with #uropean radical right or

anti-immigration parties '>rter %&(&+

E-it& on&nu Euro&ptia- &-&torat& The Finnish polity is in many ways highly consensual The fragmented party

system, with no party winning more than around %3 = of votes in elections,facilitates consensual governance and ideological convergence between partiesaspiring to enter the government

4overnments are typically surplus majority coalitions that bring together partiesfrom the left and right 4overnment formation has something of an anythinggoesD feel to it '>rter %&&*+, with the current six pac7D cabinet formed after the%&(( elections having six parties, leaving thus only two in the opposition



En Finland there was until the %&(( elections also a broad partisan consensusabout #urope, despite the fact that in the membership referendum held inHctober (** only 3/ = voted in favour of joining the $nion

Cational integration policy can be characterised as flexible and constructive andhas sought to consolidate FinlandDs position in the inner core of the #$

>lso the rules of the national #$ coordination system : based on building broad

domestic consensus, including often between the government and opposition inthe #dus7unta : have contributed to the depoliticization of #uropean issues Such consensual features and office-see7ing tendencies have in turn

contributed to the lac7 of opinion congruence between parties and theirsupporters over #$ This opinion gap has been most pronounced in the threecoreD parties of recent decades. "entre, Cational "oalition, and SocialBemocrats

>ccording to #urobarometers Finns are more sceptical of integration than the

average #$ citizens En addition, the Finnish electorate seems to be particularlyconcerned about the influence of small member states in #$ governance The #dus7unta and the political parties have also been more in favour of

immigration than the electorate 'and particularly the non-voters+



*, T*& Finn ar& a"aint t*& E1

The Finns are the only party represented in the #dus7unta that hasconsistently been against the #$ : and also the only party which hassystematically used the #$ as a central part of their electoral campaigns andpolitical discourse

The Finns have attac7ed forcefully the consensual modes of decision-ma7ingand cooperation between mainstream parties that are particularly pronouncedin #$ and foreign policies The Finns have demanded public debates about#urope, calling for an end to one truthD politics

The anti-#$ discourse of the party can be divided into three main themes. #$ as an elitist bureaucracy 'benefits big businesses and elitesO not

democratic+ stronger defence of national interests, and integration as a bridge to increased immigration 'threat to national solidarity

and the Cordic welfare state model+



The thrust of The FinnsD #$ discourse can be summed by the famous slogan ofSoini. whenever the #$ is involved, you get problemsD The party underlines theimpossibilityD of integration, predicting 'or hoping+ that it will prove unwor7ableand thus inevitably disintegrate

The moderating elements evident in domestic party politics have clearlyimpacted the discourse of The Finns With the exception of the %&(( elections,the party has not really made any #$-related demands or concrete promises Enparticular, The Finns have at no stage demanded that Finland should exit the #$or the eurozone

Et was hence Iuite ironic that an electoral promise about the #$ 7ept The Finnsout of the government after the %&(( elections The Finns had wowed during thecampaign not to approve bail-out measures to ortugal or other euro countries,and despite some initial post-election signs of willingness to moderate thisstance, Soini and his party respected their election promise

Gut while the exact wordings or objectives of The Finns may be explained orinfluenced by such strategic concerns, it is also clear that the ideology of TheFinns is fundamentally at odds with #uropean integration

Errespective of whatever one thin7s about the policies of The Finns, at least theparty has played a major role in forcing immigration and #$ to the domesticpublic agenda



Fi--in" a "ap in t*& part, ,t&+ There was thus clearly a demand for a party with a more critical view of

#uropean integration : and more broadly spea7ing for a party that wouldrepresent those sections of the citizenry with more traditional or sociallyconservative and nationalist preferences 'KestilP %&&)+

The core voters of the party have been predominantly less-educated men, but in

the %&(( elections The Finns clearly attracted new supporters from the ran7s ofthe main parties : the "entre, Cational "oalition, and particularly the SocialBemocrats

The party performed remar7ably evenly across the country, indicating that TheFinns made significant advances also in the more rural constituencies, thetraditional strongholds of the "entre arty

>ccording to surveys voters were drawn to supporting the party mainly becausethey wanted societal change and to sha7e both established patterns of powerdistribution and the direction of public policies, especially concerningimmigration and #uropean integration

!ence it is fair to claim that the phenomenal rise of The Finns is explained byboth protest and issue voting



Futur& *a--&n"& The challenge facing The Finns is typical of populist or radical right parties. can

the party maintain its popularity now that it is effectively part of the very politicalelite it fought so much againstL What will happen to an anti-establishment partynow that it finds itself strongly represented in the corridors of powerL

Staying in the opposition after the %&(( elections may have been a wise strategy,as this way The Finns can continue to attac7 the government, which is facingeconomic problems both in the #$ and at home Qet many feel that Soini shir7ed

government responsibility, preferring instead the safety of opposition The real test for The Finns will be the %&(3 #dus7unta elections 4iven the

substantially increased party funding, The Finns are guaranteed to investresources in strengthening their organisation, both nationally and in theconstituencies

9aintaining party unity may prove difficult The anti-immigration faction inside theparty is particularly troubling for Soini, as the media and the other political partiesare Iuic7 to exploit any such xenophobic rhetoric This faction is definitely a

minority within the party, but it is also the section of the party that receives themost media coverage and has already caused considerable problems for theparty leadership

>nother major Iuestion concerns the role of party leader Soini as until now TheFinns have been a highly leader-dependent organisation, While it is hard toimagine The Finns without him, there are bound to be increasing demands withinthe party for moves towards more decentralised decision-ma7ing



E-&tion to t*& Finni* par-ia+&nt 36:50;33 ()



Source. Statistics Finland 'years (*2-(*/3 include also votes in the Aland Eslands+ Cotes.

(+ $ntil (*)3 the >grarian ?eague, in (*25 including the ?iberal arty%+ $ntil (*2/ the Bemocratic ?eague of the eople of FinlandO in (*2/ incl B#1>5+ En (*2/ not as a party of its own+ En (*)% and (*)) the Small !olders arty and until (**3 the Finnish @ural arty 'S9+3+ $ntil (*2 the Cational rogressive arty, until (*)) the Finnish eopleDs arty, until(*** the ?iberal arty

arties.K#SK "entre artySB Social Bemocratic artyKHK Cational "oalition1>S ?eft >lliance1E!@ 4reen ?eague

KB "hristian Bemocratic arty 'Gefore %&&( the "hristian ?eague0$nion+SF Swedish eopleDs artyS The Finns?EG ?iberal eopleDs artyHthers Hther parties



T*& p-a&+&nt of Finni* parti& on t*& -&ft0ri"*t

#i+&nion an# on t*& anti<pro0 int&"ration

#i+&nion (;:G Matti-a Raunio ;5)



THE PARLIAMENT



L&"i-ati'& or!

?i7e the other Cordic legislatures, the Finnish #dus7unta can be categorized asa wor7ing parliamentD, with emphasis on wor7 carried out in parliamentarycommittees

>ccording to >rter '(***, %((-%(/+ the three criteria of a wor7ing parliament area division of labour among parliamentary committees mirroring the jurisdictions

of the respective ministriesO standing orders that lift committee wor7 aboveplenary sessionsO and a wor7 culture where 9s concentrate on legislative wor7instead of grand debates on the floor

lenary debates are not as central as in debating parliamentsD such as theGritish !ouse of "ommons

> strong committee system facilitates efficient control over government?iterature on committees has emphasized that committees provide 9s with theopportunity to specialize, and that such specialization can benefit the whole

parliament 9oreover, committees that have stable memberships and whose jurisdictionsmirror the division of labour among ministries should be better eIuipped tocontrol the government



>ccording to the constitution 'Section 53+ the #dus7unta appoints for eachelectoral term the 4rand "ommittee, the "onstitutional ?aw "ommittee, theForeign >ffairs "ommittee, and the Finance "ommittee, together with otherstanding committees En addition, the #dus7unta can appoint ad hoc committees

> committee has a Iuorum when at least %05 of its members are present 'unlessa higher Iuorum is specifically reIuired+

"ommittee deliberation is compulsory and precedes the plenary stage"ommittees must report to the plenary on all matters under consideration excepton private membersD bills and motions

"ommittees meet behind closed doors and ministers do not hold seats oncommittees "ommittees can invite ministers to hearings, but cabinetrepresentatives are not legally obligated to appear in person

The number of committees has remained Iuite stable, with an increase of onlytwo committees after (*3 !owever, the major reform of the committee systemcarried out in (**(, involving the abolition of two committees, establishment ofthree committees, and reshuffling of the committeesD jurisdictions, produced a

situation where the competencies of the individual standing committees mirror'by and large+ the jurisdiction of the respective ministries



Cew laws generally originate in legislative proposals from thegovernment $ntil the new constitutional amendment '%&(%+, thepresident had the formal right to determine, in a plenary sitting of thegovernment and on the latterDs recommendation, that a bill beintroduced in parliament : but the president could not veto the initiative

First, the plenary sends the bill to a committee for preparation When scrutinising the initiative, committees often hear expert witnesses

: civil servants, legal experts, academics, interest grouprepresentatives etc

Hnce the report of the committee has been issued, the proposal isconsidered in two readings in the plenary

En the first reading the committee report is debated, and a decision onthe contents of the legislative proposal is made

En the second reading, which at the earliest ta7es place on the third dayafter the conclusion of the first reading, the parliament decides whetherthe legislative proposal is accepted or rejected by simple majority



$ntil a constitutional amendment from (*2/, the president could delaylegislation until overridden by a newly elected parliament Getween(*2/ and %&&& the president could delay legislation until the nextparliamentary session The parliament had the right to overridepresidentDs veto

>ccording to the new constitution 'Section //+, >n >ct adopted by thearliament shall be submitted to the resident of the @epublic for

confirmation The resident shall decide on the confirmation withinthree months of the submission of the >ct The resident may obtain astatement on the >ct from the Supreme "ourt or the Supreme >dministrative "ourt Ef the resident does not confirm the >ct, it isreturned for the consideration of the arliament Ef the arliamentreadopts the >ct without material alterations, it enters into force withoutconfirmation Ef the arliament does not readopt the >ct, it shall bedeemed to have lapsedD

Since the proposal can become a law without the presidentDs approval,he or she has only a suspensive veto Et must be emphasised that, inpractice, presidents have not challenged cabinet proposals orparliamentary decisions



rocedure for constitutional enactment 'Section /5+

;> proposal on the enactment, amendment or repeal of the "onstitutionor on the enactment of a limited derogation of the "onstitution shall inthe second reading be left in abeyance, by a majority of the votes cast,

until the first parliamentary session following parliamentary electionsThe proposal shall then, once the "ommittee has issued its report, beadopted without material alterations in one reading in a plenary sessionby a decision supported by at least two thirds of the votes cast

!owever, the proposal may be declared urgent by a decision that hasbeen supported by at least five sixths of the votes cast En this event,

the proposal is not left in abeyance and it can be adopted by a decisionsupported by at least two thirds of the votes cast<



Contro--in" t*& "o'&rn+&nt

4overnment versus opposition

@ecent constitutional reforms have widened the gap between the rulingmajority and the opposition parties

Finland has traditionally been categorised among countries where theopposition parties have higher than average impact on governmentpolicy, not least through the committee system

9ore specifically, the instrument of deferment rule considerablystrengthened the hand of the opposition

$ntil (*2/, one-third of 9s ')/0%&&+ could postpone the final adoptionof an ordinary law until the next election, with the proposal adopted if amajority in the new parliament supported it En (*2/ the period ofpostponement was shortened to until the next annual parliamentarysession

The deferment rule was finally abolished in (**%



This deferment rule partially explained the propensity to form oversizedcoalitions and contributed to the practice of inclusive, consensualdecision-ma7ing that reduced the gap between the government andopposition

The rationale behind including the deferment rule in the constitutionwas that it would prevent tyranny by a simple parliamentary majority,offering in particular protection against potential radical socialist reforms

"onsidering the abolition of the deferment rule and other constitutionalchanges that have strengthened the role of the #dus7unta and thepolitical parties, it is not surprising that Finland has since the early(**&s become a strongly government-dominated polity 'a generalfeature of parliamentary government+

!owever, it is nonetheless still fair to argue that Finland operates pretty

much according to consensual practices, especially in decision-ma7ingin foreign policy and #$ matters Endeed, the Finnish political system is often characterised as both

consensual and elitist '@uostetsaari %&&5+



"ontrol instruments

For controlling the cabinet while the latter is in office, the bluntesttool is the vote of no confidence, of which there are three types Thedecision rule is simple majority

1otes of no confidence that always follow an interpellation >n

individual 9 can initiate interpellations, but they are usually putforward by party groups of the opposition parties > minimum of %&signatures '(& = of 9s+ is needed for an interpellation to bepresented to the cabinet or an individual minister The last cabinetresignation owing to a vote of no confidence following aninterpellation occurred in (*32 'von Fieandt government+

The cabinet can in practice initiate confidence votes, understandingthat a defeat will lead to its downfall The last cabinet resignation

through a government-initiated vote of confidence occurred in (*35'the Ke77onen E1 government+ The opposition can, without prior warning and in connection with

any policy issue, reIuest a confidence vote during the plenary Sofar, such votes of no confidence have not led to a resignation



9s ma7e more use of this instrument than before. in the (*3&s the9s tabled (5, in the (*)&s (3, in the (*/&s %&, in the (*2&s %3, andin the (**&s interpellations, with no real decline in the newmillennium

The main objective of the interpellations is to raise the profile of theopposition parties and perhaps also to stimulate debate on topicalissues

!owever, when tabling the interpellation, the opposition basically 7nowsthat it will not result in government being voted out of office The role of parliamentary Iuestions has become more important over

time Hriginally 9s could table only written Iuestions 'introduced in (*&)+,

with oral Iuestions introduced in (*)) and Iuestions to the "ouncil ofState 'ie, the government+ introduced in (*2*

The monthly Iuestions to the "ouncil of State, televised live, wereintroduced in order to enable the parliament and the government toengage in a more open dialogue on topical issues



En (*** the oral Iuestions and Iuestions to the "ouncil of State were mergedinto a Iuestion time, during which 9s can spontaneously put Iuestions to theministers on topics of their own choice

These Iuestion times are held on Thursdays and are shown live on the mainstate-owned T1 channel

While the impact of Iuestions is hard to measure, their steady increase showsthat members find them worthwhile En the (*3&s 9s tabled on average (&(, inthe (*)&s (2, in the (*/&s 5)/, in the (*2&s 33, in the (**&s *%, and in thefirst decade of the %(st century (&)* written Iuestions per year

The number of oral Iuestions has stabilized after the rule change implementedin (*** to about (3&-%&& Iuestions per year

Endividual 9s can submit three types of initiatives. legislative bills, budgetmotions and petitionary motions

These motions do not normally proceed any further than the committee stage,

and it is rare for a private memberDs bill to become a law Getween (*3 and%&&% ( = of such legislative initiatives tabled by individual 9s weresuccessful : new laws are thus based on governmentDs proposals

These motions can be very important for 9s in terms of publicity and defenceof constituency interests



Enformation rights and the role of the plenary

> crucial element in holding the government accountable is access toinformation

>ccording to the constitution, the parliament and its committees haveaccess to all information in the possession of public authorities which

they need in the consideration of relevant matters 'Section /+ These strong information rights are complemented by the right toreceive information on matters relating to the #$ 'Section *)+O reportsfrom the government 'Section +O the governmentDs annual reports onits activitiesO measures underta7en in response to parliamentarydecisionsO state finances and adherence to the budget 'Section )+Oand international affairs 'Section */+

The rights to receive information on #$ matters and on internationalaffairs, both introduced in connection with Finland joining the #$, haveimproved the #dus7untaDs capacity to control the government



The #dus7unta has attempted to ma7e plenary debates a more centralaspect of its wor7 The annual duration of the debates has increasedfrom around 5&& hours in the (*/&s to the current level ofapproximately 3&& hours

>fter the reforms carried out in the (**&s both the government and9s 'either as a group or as individual 9s+ can propose debates ontopical matters

>lso the streamlining of the various reporting reIuirements of thegovernment and the increase in the number of such reports hasimproved the Iuality of information received by the #dus7unta Thisapplies particularly to government reports and announcements by theprime ministers that have become routine tools of parliamentary debate

While these reforms have undoubtedly elevated the status of theplenary debates 'as illustrated by the regular presence of the prime

minister in the chamber+, it is very difficult to evaluate whether theyhave contributed to control of the government Et is nonetheless positivethat now the government must defend and explain its actions andpolicies in public to a much greater extent than before 'Iuestion time,plenary debates, reports+



=io-'in" t*& par-ia+&nt

$ntil the (**&s the president alone had the right, without even consulting thegovernment or the parliament, to dissolve the #dus7unta and order newelections

Buring the post-war era, the president exercised this right four times '(*35,(*)%, (*/( and (*/3+

> constitutional amendment in (**( altered the situation in favour of thegovernment, by reIuiring explicit prime-ministerial consent for dissolving the#dus7unta. Hn the basis of a reasoned initiative by the rime 9inister, theresident may, after consulting the Spea7er of arliament and the variousparliamentary factions, and at a time when arliament is in session, dissolvearliament by ordering that new elections be heldD '"onstitution >ct, Section %/+

Section %) of the new constitution consolidated this practice. The resident ofthe @epublic, in response to a reasoned proposal by the rime 9inister, and

after having heard the parliamentary groups, and while the arliament is insession, may order that extraordinary parliamentary elections shall be heldThereafter, the arliament shall decide the time when it concludes its wor7before the electionsD



Stat& $u#"&t

The budgetary process is based on inter-ministerial bargaining : thisbargaining is led by the 9inistry of Finance

The ability of the #dus7unta to guide the negotiations in the ministries is

estimated to be fairly low #xamining the differences between the governments proposal for the

state budget and the final bill as approved by the parliament, Wiberg'%&&). (*5, %5+ shows that only in (*/ and (*35 did the #dus7untaraise the total budget by over (& =

Since (*)& the differences have been minimal, staying usually belowone per cent

The majority of roll-call votes have in recent years dealt with the annualstate budget '9s can use these recorded votes to show how theyvoted and defended the interests of their constituencies+



O?ERNMENT

When comparing with other #uropean countries, Finnish governmentsare outliers in three respects. their parliamentary support, level offragmentation, and ideological diversity

For+ation

The "onstitution >ct of (*(* was virtually silent on the issue ofgovernment formation The government was reIuired to enjoy theconfidence of the #dus7unta, and the president was to appoint citizensof Finland 7nown for their honesty and ability to serve as members ofthe "ouncil of StateD 'Section 5)+

En practice, government formation was strongly influenced by thepresident >fter the outgoing cabinet had submitted its resignation, thepresident invited the spea7er of parliament and the representatives ofthe parliamentary parties to bilateral discussions



The fragmented party system, with no clearly dominant party emergingafter the elections, strengthened the presidentDs hand in steering thenegotiations The president then appointed a formateur whose tas7 wasto continue negotiations about which parties would form thegovernment, the government programme and portfolio allocation!owever, it was common for the president also to influence theselection of individual ministers Finally, the president appointed the

new cabinet in the last plenary meeting of the resigning cabinet The last case of strong presidential intervention occurred in (*2/, when

president 9auno Koivisto overruled a coalition between the "entre andthe Cational "oalition, indicating that a coalition between the Cational"oalition and the Social Bemocrats was preferable

Ef government formation negotiations failed, the president had the rightto appoint a careta7er cabinet consisting of civil servants Since (*3Finland has had six careta7er cabinets, most recently the ?iinamaacabinet in (*/3



!ence government formation is based on bargaining between politicalparties, with the understanding that the largest party will lead thenegotiations The #dus7unta then appoints the 9 and the cabinet'through the investiture vote+

rior to a constitutional amendment in (**(, the cabinet was notobliged to present its programme in the #dus7unta

The new vote of investiture was first used in (**3, when the rainbowcoalition headed by aavo ?ipponen too7 office $nder the new constitution, the government shall without delay submit

its programme to the parliament which is then followed by a debate anda mandatory confidence vote The decision rule is simple majority

Gy approving the programme, the party groups of the governmentparties commit themselves to abiding by that document !owever, one

can also argue that the introduction of the investiture vote strengthensthe parliament, as it enables the party groups of the government partiesto at least set certain ex ante limits or guidelines to governmentbehaviour



The role of party leaders has become particularly important in electoralcampaigns, with #dus7unta elections seen more and more as electionsabout the future prime minister The largest party will lead governmentformation tal7s and will have the position of the 9 'informal rule+

This reflects the fact that electoral competition between the biggest

parties is increasingly also a competition for the next 9 #ach partysee7s to present its leader as the most suitable next prime minister This constrains party leaders from adopting strong political stances or

engaging in confrontational discourse, privileging instead the Iuality ofstatesmanshipD and the 'perceived+ ability to manage a coalitiongovernment

There is some evidence to suggest that leadership effects have

generally become more important for Finnish voters 'especially afterthe (**3 elections+



T,p& of "o'&rn+&nt

En terms of cabinet duration, Finland used to be characterised by short-lived andunstable governments living under the shadow of the president

>mong the West #uropean countries, only Etaly had more cabinets between(*3 and %&&& than Finland

Hf the governments formed between (*3 and (***, nearly half ') =+ weresurplus majority coalitions, %5 = were minority governments, () = were minimalwinning coalitions and () = were careta7er cabinets

Gut the governments appointed after the era of resident Ke77onen havebasically stayed in office for the whole four-year electoral period : a period whichCousiainen '%&&)+ has termed the era of stable majority parliamentarismD

#xamining governments formed after (*25, we can see that the oversizedcoalitions have controlled safe majorities in the #dus7unta The centre-right

cabinet led by 9 #s7o >ho '(**(-*3+ had the narrowest majority with 3/,3 = ofthe seats '35,3 = after the "hristian Bemocrats left the government in (**+,while the first rainbow coalition led by 9 aavo ?ipponen controlled as manyas /%,3 = of the seats The current government controls nearly two-thirds ')% =+of #dus7unta seats



@eflecting the fragmentation of the party system and the tradition offorming majority governments, the mean number of cabinet partiesbetween (*3 and %&&& was 53, the highest figure among West#uropean countries

The overwhelming majority of Finnish governments have been cross-bloc coalitions, bringing together parties from the left and the right

>n oversized coalition government, bringing together the SocialBemocrats, the Cational "oalition, the ?eft >lliance, the SwedisheopleDs arty and the 4reen ?eague, too7 office after the (**3election, and this so-called rainbow governmentD renewed its mandatein the (*** elections >ccording to Cousiainen '%&&&. %/&+ theformation of this coalition indicated that ;the traditional bloc boundary ofthe party system has lost much of its importance<

@ecent governments have as a rule included two of the three mainparties, the Social Bemocrats, the "entre and the Cational "oalition The current six pac7D government, formed after the %&(( elections, has

six 'RRR+ political parties, with only two parties in the parliamentaryopposition



The "entre arty has occupied the position of the median legislator,and this together with strong bac7ing from presidents, has facilitatedboth its inclusion in the majority of post-war cabinets and the formationof cross-bloc coalitions

The Swedish eopleDs arty has participated in most governments,including all cabinets formed after (*/* The near-permanentgovernment status of the party can be interpreted as a mechanism forprotecting minority rights, but it is also explained by the centrist andflexible ideology of the party

Bespite their size and ideological heterogeneity, the governmentsformed since (*25 have been surprisingly stable, without any majorinternal conflicts

The only real exception was the short-lived coalition between the

"entre, Social Bemocrats and the Swedish eopleDs arty that too7office after the elections held in 9arch %&&5 rime 9inister >nneliJPPtteenmP7i was forced to resign in June of that year after allegationsconcerning her use of secret foreign ministry documents during theelection campaign The same three parties formed a new cabinetimmediately after JPPtteenmP7i had resigned



En addition, three small coalition partners have left the governments. the@ural arty in (**& over budgetary disagreements, the "hristianBemocrats in (** owing to the governmentDs pro-#$ stance, and the4reen ?eague in %&&% because of the decision to build a fifth nuclearreactor Gut these defections did not threaten the overall stability of thecabinets

Cot surprisingly, the oversized coalitions have since (*25 ruled withoutmuch effective opposition from the #dus7unta

articularly important has been the fragmented nature of the opposition >s the cabinets have, with the exception of the bourgeois coalition that

governed in (**(-(**3, brought together parties from both the left andthe right, the opposition has been both numerically wea7 andideologically fragmented

For example, after the %&&5 elections the main opposition parties werelocated both to the right 'Cational "oalition+ and to the left '4reen?eague, ?eft >lliance+ of the cabinet led by 9 9atti 1anhanen"onsidering such ideological fragmentation, the opposition could hardlysustain a coherent strategy of criticizing the government 'fragmentedopposition+



The prevalence of oversized surplus majority coalitions in Finland isexplained by several factors.

the fragmented party system and the ensuing need to build wor7able

coalitions the lac7 of a 'centrist+ dominant party the "entre arty has held the position of the median legislator,

forming coalitions with both parties to its left and its right the deferment rule that until (**% allowed (05 of 9s to postpone the

adoption of a proposal

Et is also safe to argue that putting together surplus coalitions hasbecome the standardD approach to government formation



#xample. government formation after the %&&/ elections

> good example of how oversized coalitions have become the dominantpattern

>fter the election result became clear, it seemed that the li7eliestcoalition alternative was a centre-right cabinet formed by the "entre,the Cational "oalition and the Swedish eopleDs arty

!owever, immediately after the elections 9 1anhanen, who would asthe leader of the largest party be responsible for forming the newgovernment, announced that his new cabinet should control around (%&of the %&& seats 1anhanen justified this by referring to the need toensure the smooth functioning of the government Soon afterwards

1anhanen declared that the new government would be a coalitionbetween the "entre, the Cational "oalition, the Swedish eopleDs arty,and the 4reen ?eague, commanding a comfortable majority in the#dus7unta with (%) seats ')5 =+



The impact of multiparty governments.

arties and their leaders are engaged in an almost constant process ofnegotiation and the art of building compromises and pac7age deals is anessential feature of daily politics

The dividing line between government and opposition has increased insignificance as a result of the constitutional reforms, but the pragmatic and

consensual style of politics prevails En order not to exclude themselves from government formation negotiations,

parties neither present to the voters any pre-election alliances nor ma7e anystatements about not sharing power with a particular party

Finnish parties are highly office-see7ing in their behaviour Co Finnish party isnon-coalitionable, and practically any coalition is imaginable before the elections

While partisan cooperation in multiparty governments and in the #dus7unta may

enhance partiesD ability to defend the interests of their constituents, itsimultaneously ma7es it harder for the voters to assess the performance of theirrepresentatives, particularly considering the lac7 of transparency whichcharacterises coalition government decision-ma7ing



Nu+$&r of +init&r

There are no constitutional regulations about the number of ministers orhow they are to be selected

The constitution states that The 4overnment consists of the rime

9inister and the necessary number of 9inisters The 9inisters shall beFinnish citizens 7nown to be honest and competentD 'Section )&+

The number of ministers has stayed fairly constant since the SecondWorld War, but there has been a slight increase over the decades

The government formed after the %&&/ elections had an all-time high of%& ministers The current cabinet, formed after the %&(( elections, has(* ministers, nine of whom are women

The number of ministries has also stayed about the same, with thecurrent number being (%



Pri+& +init&r

@ecent constitutional and political developments have undoubtedlystrengthened the position of the 9

With the partial exception of the finance minister, the 9 is the only personin the government whose policy jurisdiction covers all policy areas

>ccording to Section )) of the constitution The rime 9inister directs theactivities of the 4overnment and oversees the preparation andconsideration of matters that come within the mandate of the 4overnmentD

!owever, the bargaining involved in forming coalition cabinets and 7eepingthem together act as significant constraints on the executive powers of the9

>part from ministers from her or his own party, and with the possible

exception of the finance and foreign ministers, the 9 has little influenceon the selection of ministers, the coalition partners being responsible forchoosing them

The same applies to dismissal powers Since (**( the 9 has had theright to as7 the president to fire an individual minister



>ccording to Section ) of the constitution The resident of the @epublicgrants, upon reIuest, the resignation of the 4overnment or a 9inister Theresident may also grant the resignation of a 9inister on the proposal of therime 9inister The resident shall in any event dismiss the 4overnment or a9inister, if either no longer enjoys the confidence of arliament, even if noreIuest is madeD

>lthough the 9 can certainly put pressure on coalition partners, he or shecannot in practice dismiss individual ministers without the consent of thegovernment parties

Ef the 9 resigns, the whole cabinet is dissolved For example, the resignation of9 1anhanen in the summer of %&(& and the appointment of 9ari Kiviniemi 'thenew "entre arty leader+ as the new 9 reIuired both the formal resignation ofthe 1anhanen government and the formal appointment by the president of thenew cabinet led by Kiviniemi

The 9Ds Hffice has risen in stature in recent decades Et coordinates decision-ma7ing in the ministries and operates as a bro7er in the case of disputes withinor between ministries En (*/& the 9Ds Hffice had a staff of /&, in (*2& of (*%,in (**& of (%, in %&&& of %%/, and in %&&/ %5 people wor7ed for the 9



or!in" +&t*o#

There are two 7inds of government plenaries, those chaired by the 9and those chaired by the president En the latter there is no voting, asthe president alone ta7es the decision 'potentially even against aunanimous government+ En plenaries chaired by the 9 voting is used

'decision rule being simple majority+, but decisions are ta7en collegially Gesides plenary meetings, the wor7 of the cabinet is coordinatedthrough four statutory ministerial committees. the "abinet "ommitteeon Foreign and Security olicy, the "abinet Finance "ommittee, the"abinet "ommittee on #conomic olicy and, since (**3, the "abinet"ommittee on #uropean $nion >ffairs >ll committees are chaired bythe 9

The full plenary is seldom the place where decisions are in realityta7en, and hence the wor7 carried out in the ministerial committees orat the level of individual ministers has become increasingly relevant interms of understanding where power lies within the cabinet



Endividual ministers have become more autonomous actors inrecent decades, and they wield stronger influence in their fieldsof competence than before

Since (*/&, all ministers have had their own special politicaladvisors, distinct from the civil servants in the ministries >s of%&&3, ministers can also have their own state secretaries

This delegation of authority from the 9 and the cabinet to theindividual ministers is primarily explained by the increasingwor7load of the government, and the resulting need to dividelabour and delegate power to the line ministers

Cevertheless, individual action by ministers is stronglyconstrained by the government programme and the agreementsbetween the leaders of the coalition parties : even to the extentthat, in #uropean comparison, the autonomy of Finnish lineministers has been argued to be minimal



!owever, the most important decisions are ta7en in discussions between theleaders of the coalition parties The same applies to planning the governmentDsagenda

Since Finnish governments are broad coalition cabinets, the 9 needs goodbargaining s7ills because decisions are usually based on deals between thecoalition partners

o'&rn+&nt pro"ra++&

En addition to meetings of the coalition leaders, an increasingly importantconflict-resolution mechanism : or a way to pre-empt conflicts : is thegovernment programme

These programmes have become longer and more detailed over the decades

'especially since the early (*2&s+, with the coalition partners investing a lot ofresources in bargaining over the programme The length of the programmes isprimarily explained by the high number of parties forming the government andthe need to commit them 'and their party groups+ to established rules andpolicies



Whereas the programme of the Sorsa 1E government, appointed in(*25, contained (/22 words, the programme of the 1anhanen cabinetfrom %&&/ contained (35& words There was a major leap at the turnof the millennium. whereas the programme of the ?ipponen EEgovernment from (*** had )/(( words, the governments appointedsince the turn of the century have drafted programmes in excess of

(%&&& words The programme of the Dsix pac7D government, formed after the %&((

elections, has *& pages and %) )2* words Et is commonly accepted among the government parties that the

programme forms the bac7bone of the cabinet and that it is binding onall the parties

The government parties also monitor that their party groups support theprogrammes The cooperation rules between the governing partiesDparliamentary groups that have been in use since the early (*2&seffectively prevent any disagreements or public conflicts between thegovernment and the party groups The only exceptions are matters thatare clearly DlocalD by nature and certain Iuestions of conscience



Ca$in&t t&r+ination The constitutional reforms impact on cabinet termination With the

president and the Kremlin no longer intervening in government wor7,recent cabinets have either stayed in office for the whole four-yearperiod, or then cabinet termination has been explained by disputesbetween the government parties 'as opposed to disputes between thegovernment and the president+

Et was customary for the government to resign when a presidentialelection was held, but the last time this happened was in (*2%

En fact, one can argue that under the old constitution, and particularlyduring the long presidency of $rho Ke77onen '(*3)-(*2(+,governments were in practice accountable to the president rather than

parliament Foreign policy imperatives have brought the government down twice :in (*3* 'Fagerholm EEE+ and in (*)% '9iettunen E+ En both cases a crisisin the relationship with Soviet $nion led to government resignation



o'&rn+&nt an# i'i- &r'ant

The public administration is divided into three levels. national, regional andmunicipal The national-level administration consists of ministries and othercentral state agencies

Since the preparation of issues and actual decision-ma7ing is often delegateddownwards from the minister to the civil servants, the leading bureaucrats in the

ministries are especially influential players 9inisters control directly the agencies under their jurisdiction, but the steering

authority of the ministers is constrained by the lac7 of effective appointment anddismissal powers, and the legalistic tradition of the state bureaucracy The civilservants are career bureaucrats and it is very difficult for any minister to get ridof bureaucrats he or she for some reason does not li7e

The leading civil servants in the ministries, the permanent secretaries'kansliapäällikkö+, were appointed by the president until %&(%

!owever, party politics does penetrate most levels of administration artymembership can facilitate access to influential, well-paid positions This appliesparticularly to top jobs in state-owned companies, central state agencies andministries, but also to regional and local levels



atronage is therefore not un7nown, but it is not a core element of the politicalsystem @ather, the political culture is primarily legalistic, and the spoils system has

never been very characteristic of the Finnish public administration Traditionally, legislation and public policy reforms have been prepared within

ministries in committees where both politicians and civil servants 'and perhapsrepresentatives of interest groups and other experts+ are represented !owever,the number of such committees has dwindled since their heyday in the (*/&s

These committees have been replaced by reports produced by non-partisanpolicy advisors 'selvitysmies in Finnish+, or by wor7ing groups consistingprimarily of civil servants appointed by the ministries

Finnish governments have in recent years invested resources in improvingcoordination and strategic planning inside the cabinet and the entire executivebranch These efforts stem bac7 to a report commissioned by the governmentfrom three foreign experts, according to which the 7ey problem was the

sectorised way of managing central government 'Gouc7aert et al %&&&O see alsoTiili %&&2+ !ence the governments appointed since %&&5 have tried to improvehorizontal coordination inside the government, mainly through governmentDsintersectoral policy programmes 'that were used from %&&5 to %&((+ and othercoordination instruments such as various government strategy documents



THE PRESI=ENT

>lthough recent constitutional reforms have reduced presidential powers, thecombination of direct elections and a tradition of strong presidency createincentives for the person occupying the post to use those remaining powers

S&+i0pr&i#&ntia-i+

The Finnish political system has normally been categorised as semi-presidential,with the executive functions divided between an elected president and agovernment that is accountable to the parliament

En fact, Finland is the oldest semi-presidential regime in #urope 'since (*(*+ $ntil %&&&, Finland had a notably strong form of semi-presidentialism For

example, Buverger '(*2&+ ran7ed Finland highest among the West #uropeansemi-presidential systems in terms of the formal powers of the head of state andsecond only to France in respect of the actual exercise of presidential power

Section 5 of the constitution. The legislative powers are exercised by thearliament, which shall also decide on State finances The governmental powersare exercised by the resident of the @epublic and the 4overnment, themembers of which shall have the confidence of the arliamentD



$nder the old constitution the president was recognised as the supreme executivepower. Sovereign power in Finland shall belong to the people, represented byarliament convened in session ?egislative power shall be exercised byarliament in conjunction with the resident of the @epublic Supreme executivepower shall be vested in the resident of the @epublic En addition, for the generalgovernment of the State there shall be a "ouncil of State comprising the rime9inister and the reIuisite number of ministersD '"onstitution >ct, Section %+

En the inter-war period the 9 led the government and the foreign minister

assumed primary responsibility for foreign policy The rules were semi-presidentialbut the practice was essentially that of parliamentary government, although in the(*5&s president Svinhufvud used the authority of the presidential officesuccessfully to meet the challenge of the neo-fascist ?apua movement

Gut the constitution itself left room for interpretation, which the presidents,particularly $rho Ke77onen, used to their advantage

The balance between government and president was therefore bothconstitutionally and politically strongly in favour of the latter until the constitutional

reforms enacted in the (**&s, which were indeed in part a response to theexcesses of the Ke77onen era '(*3)-(*2(+ > period of parliamentarisation started in (*2%, when 9auno Koivisto too7 office

after a Iuarter of century of politics dominated by Ke77onen resident Koivistoand the political elite in general favoured strengthening parliamentarism andcurtailing the powers of the president



L&"a, of t*& &!!on&n &ra



The significantly greater de facto power of the president between the SecondWorld War and the early (*2&s was not the conseIuence of a change in theconstitutional rules @ather, it was the product of three main factors.

a fragmented party system that did not facilitate stable governmentO the pivotal role of the president in maintaining amicable relations with 9oscowO

and the absence until (** of presidential term limits, which enabled Ke77onen to

build up a considerable power base Ke77onen gained widespread respect as a crisis managerD : especially in

defusing crises in Finno-Soviet relations : and as a consensus builderD :building broad-based governments, which included the communists

Ke77onen also presided over a period of strong economic growth and theestablishment of the welfare state

For many Finns, Ke77onenDs authoritarian presidency, and, in the (*/&s in

particular the stultifying intellectual climate associated with FinlandizationD, werefar less important than the fact that he was seen to deliver security andprosperity



For&i"n po-i, -&a#&r*ip >part from constitutional regulations, the widely ac7nowledged priority of

maintaining amicable relations with the Soviet $nion concentrated power in thehands of the president

> further impetus for downgrading presidential powers came thus from the endof the "old War, since the dissolution of the Soviet bloc reduced the importanceof personalised foreign policy leadership

$nder the old constitution, foreign policy was the exclusive domain of the

president Section 55 of the "onstitution >ct stated. The relations of Finland withforeign powers shall be determined by the resident D Gut according to Section *5 of the new constitution The foreign policy of Finland

is directed by the resident of the @epublic in co-operation with the 4overnment!owever, the arliament accepts FinlandDs international obligations and theirdenouncement and decides on the bringing into force of FinlandDs internationalobligations in so far as provided in this "onstitution The resident decides onmatters of war and peace, with the consent of the arliament The 4overnment

is responsible for the national preparation of the decisions to be made in the#uropean $nion, and decides on the concomitant Finnish measures, unless thedecision reIuires the approval of the arliament The arliament participates inthe national preparation of decisions to be made in the #uropean $nion, asprovided in this "onstitutionD



This formulation is uniIue, for in no other #$ country does theconstitution explicitly reIuire foreign policy leadership to be sharedbetween the two executives

The president therefore directs foreign policy, but does so together withthe government 'the president meets both the 9 and the foreignminister on a regular basis+ and through the governmentDs ministerial

committee '"abinet "ommittee on Foreign and Security olicy+ Gut. the constitution remained silent about what happened if co-operation between the president and the government did not wor7!ence the new constitutional amendment '%&(%+ introduced a conflict-resolution mechanism, with the position of the #dus7unta decisive incases of disagreements between the president and the governmentGut this mechanism applies only to a small share of foreign policymatters, basically those necessitating formal decision-ma7ing such asthe ratification of certain international agreements

9embership of the #$ has contributed to the parliamentarisation offoreign policy by further narrowing the jurisdiction of the president '#$policy falls under the competence of the government+



!owever, often it is very difficult to draw a clear line between #$ matters'governmentDs competence+ and DotherD foreign policy Iuestions 'reIuiring co-leadership+, and this may cause jurisdictional disputes between the presidentand the government : this applies in particular to the development of the #$Dsforeign and security policy '"FS+

Cational foreign and security policies are also increasingly influenced by#uropean level coordination processes and policy choices

!ence it is completely logical that the president has tried to legitimize her role in

#$ and particularly "FS matters through the strong lin7age between #uropeanand foreign policy En order for the president to genuinely lead foreign policy, shemust also be actively involved in #$ policy

This in turn produces tensions and conflicts between the president and thegovernment The president has attempted to influence national integrationpolicies, particularly in "FS matters, while the government 'supported by theparliament+ defends its turf in #$ and foreign policies "lashes are unavoidable

> good example is relations with @ussia : always a salient issue for Finland The

#$ has its own policy towards @ussia, and hence FinlandDs bilateral relationswith @ussia are strongly lin7ed to and influenced by #$Ds policies vis-M-vis@ussia The government li7es to emphasize #$Ds @ussian policy, while thepresident stresses bilateral tal7sR

* - # f i -i t* i# t t* PM1



*o -&a# for&i"n po-i, J t*& pr&i#&nt or t*& PM1



The 9 is the primary representative of Finland in the #$, but the presidentparticipated in most #uropean "ouncil meetings until the ?isbon Treaty enteredinto force 'late %&&*+ : the policy of two platesD

>ccording to the new constitutional amendment '%&(%+ the 9 will representFinland in the #uropean "ouncil and in other #$ meetings where the politicalleaders of the member states are represented 'such as informal meetingsbetween the leaders of member states and summits between the #$ and third

countries+ !owever, to the extent that this is possible within the #$ framewor7,the government could in exceptional circumstances decide that also thepresident represents Finland in #$ meetings The presence of both the primeminister and the president would, so the argument goes, indicate that the issueis of particular salience to Finland and would also strengthen FinlandDsbargaining position

The president is the commander-in-chief of the defence forces 'Section (%2+

!ence the president decides on FinlandDs participation in crisis managementoperations 'peace7eeping 0 peace enforcement+



L&"i-ati'& an# appoint+&nt po&r

Suspensive veto in legislation 'delaying powerO parliament can overridepresidential veto+

The president may, after obtaining a statement from the Supreme "ourt, grantfull or partial pardon

The president enjoyed very strong appointment powers until the new constitutionentered into force $ntil (**2 the president even appointed university presidentsand professors The constitution of %&&& reduced the list of persons thepresident appoints and the constitutional amendment from %&(% furthercontinued this trend, primarily through giving the government to right to appointpermanent secretaries 'the leading civil servants in the ministries+

This latest change is at least partially explained by the fact that president Tarja!alonen vetoed several times governmentDs candidates, appointing instead

persons of her own choice The president decides on these appointments in the plenary of the government,on the recommendation of the government



E-&tion

The president is elected for no more than two consecutive six-yearterms

$ntil (*2%, the president was elected by an electoral college of 5&&members '5&( in (*2%+, elected by the same proportional system as9s

> one-time experiment was conducted in the (*22 election, involving amixed two-tic7et system of direct and indirect voting To be elected by adirect vote, a candidate needed to receive 3& = of the votes >s nocandidate reached this share, the election was passed on to asimultaneously elected electoral college

> new electoral system for choosing the president was first used in(** Ef a candidate receives more than half of the votes, he or she is

elected president Ef none of the candidates receives the majority of thevotes, a new election is held on the third Sunday after the first electionEn the second round, the two persons who received the most votes inthe first round run against each other, with the candidate receiving themajority of votes elected as the new president



En the direct elections held so far '(**, %&&&, %&&), %&(%+,basically all candidates emphasised that, if elected, they wouldexercise the powers vested in the presidency, signalling thatthey had no plans to remain in the bac7ground

Turnout has been higher in presidential elections than in

#dus7unta elections : in %&&) /5* = voted in the first roundand //% = in the second roundO in %&(% the respective figureswere /%2 = and )2* =

E-it& '&ru iti2&n

citizens are in favour of 7eeping the powers of the presidentintact 'or even increasing them+

political elite is more in favour of further reducing the powers ofthe president



T*& #&ir& for tron" -&a#&r/1

The president has commanded levels of public confidence and support notenjoyed by 9s, governments, parliament, or political parties : this is commonin basically all semi-presidential regimes For example, according to an #1>survey from %&&* )5 = of Finns had very muchD or muchD confidence inresident Tarja !alonen compared with ( = in the case of parliament, 5* = thegovernment, %( = the #$ and ( = political parties

En a survey carried out in January %&&* by Q?#, *& = of the respondents were infavour of the current foreign policy co-leadership, with 2( = even supporting theextension of this co-leadership to #$ policy ublic opinion was also supportiveof giving the president a stronger role in domestic politics

Endeed, there has arguably been an authoritarian element in the Finnish politicalculture : a deference to those inU authority 'alamaiskulttuuri +

The president is understood to be above party politics, loo7ing after the interestsof the whole country as opposed to the narrower interests of the governing

parties : again this is a rather common perception in semi-presidential countries Hbviously one can also argue that the opinions of the citizens are biased by

history or political culture. as Finns are used to living in a president-led system,they show less affinity or understanding towards parliamentary democracy

CORPORATISM AN=



THE ELFARE STATE

Goth can be interpreted as consensus-building mechanisms

Nor#i (an# Finni*) orporati+

Finnish 'and Cordic+ corporatism is distinguished by the generallycooperative practices and conduct permeating state0interest group

relations and by interest groupsD relatively good access to policy-ma7ingprocesses Some experts propose that the contractual, cooperative brand of

corporatism found in the Cordic countries is determined bydemographics and culture

The Cordic countries are relatively small and ethnically homogenousCordic peoples, exhibit strong preferences for income eIuality,

generous and universal welfare state benefits, and consensualbargaining in relations among state, capital, and labour interests

"orporatism is strongly associated with social democracy that grew intandem with trade unions : welfare state capitalismD, social democraticstateD



Main f&atur& of orporati+ (o+par& it* p-ura-i+)

Co--&ti'& a"& $ar"ainin" 'including often also other labour mar7etissues+

Tripartite system. labour : capital : state

roduces arguably macroeconomic stability, effective labour allocation,and optimalD wage levels 'both sides modify their claims+ : ma7esoutcomes more predictable

>re collective wage agreements 'and corporatism more broadlyspea7ing+ advantageous for small countries that face increasingcompetition in global economyL

A#+initrati'& orporati+ 1arious committees : that prepare public policy or give advice to the

government : have representation from interest groups



=&'&-op+&nt of Finni* orporati+

En comparative studies on corporatism Finland is usually ran7ed as having oneof the most corporatist systems of governance

9ost observers agree that the two or three decades following World War EEconstituted the height of Cordic corporatism : these were also the years whenthe welfare states in the Cordic region were established 'an increasing share of

the labour force employed by the public sector+ En Finland corporatism was particularly prevalent until the (*2&s, but there was atemporary decline in the early (**&s caused mainly by the economic recessionthat followed the decline of the Soviet $nion

The ?ipponen governments '(**3-%&&5+ emphasized again the importance ofcollective wage bargaining and corporatism, not least because the cooperationof the trade unions was seen as essential in order to meet the #9$ criteria andto maintain economic discipline once in the eurozone

While the system of collective wage tal7s is currently not as comprehensive asbefore, with bargaining delegated more to individual unions, most labour mar7etpolicies are effectively decided in tripartite negotiations



9oreover, 7ey interest groups are still actively involved in preparingnew policies, and hence their voice is routinely heard in policy-ma7ingGut note that the number 'and presumably also influence+ ofcommittees where interest groups are represented has declined inrecent decades

Trade union density has risen over the decades, with currently over /&= of the wor7force belonging to trade unions

This is also reflected in the memberships of the four main unions : the"entral Hrganisation of Finnish Trade $nions 'S>K+, the "onfederationof $nions for >cademic rofessionals in Finland '>K>1>+, the Finnish"onfederation of Salaried #mployees 'STTK+, and the "entral $nion of >gricultural roducers and Forest Hwners '9TK+

The decline in the membership of 9TK results from the simple fact thata smaller share of Finns derives their income from agriculture, with alsothe number of farms declining Iuite rapidly in recent decades



Eono+, an# t*& &-far& tat&

Finland 'and the Cordic countries+ usually scores high on indicatorssuch as economic growth, income distribution, well-being, and gendereIuality

Cordic women have reached a higher level of eIuality with men than in

most other #uropean countries, and this is arguably explained by theCordic welfare model En general women score high according to theireducational level, economical activity, and political and culturalparticipation, compared to many #uropean countries 'after the %&((#dus7unta elections %,3 = of 9s were women+ The high level offemale employment. generous maternity benefits, the organization ofday-care facilities etc

>n active government is often seen as the explanation for this successD : active meaning that the government redistributes income and is amajor actor in economic policy

Gut. extensive welfare state provisions are not possible without a well-functioning 'mar7et+ economy : generating the income



The welfare state as a political regime : a broad political compromisebetween the state, the labour movement, and the private sector "omprehensive policies : providing 'universal+ benefits to citizens.

universalism as a principle means that 'basically+ all citizens areentitled to benefits regardless of the level of income

Welfare state as an eIualizer

4lobal programmes are preferred to selective onesO free publiceducation for all with a standard high enough to discourage the demandfor private schools, free or cheap health care on the same basis, childallowance for all families with children rather than income-tested aid forpoor mothers etc

> relatively high proportion of the labour force is employed by the publicsector

!alf of all social expenditure is ta7en up by benefits provided to seniorDcitizens : private pensions are becoming more common The share of elderly people is rapidly increasing : and correspondingly

the share of those in wor7 is decreasing 'extending wor7 years andintroducing higher pension agesL+



Finland 'and the Cordic countries+ spend also particularly much moneyon families and children

"onsensual element : produces convergence on the left-rightdimension about economy and social policy

The welfare state model reflects : and is partially based on : thedominance of social democratic parties that modified their goals There has so far been broad political support for the welfare regime :

including support from right-wing parties Gut. support for the welfare state is declining En particular, the

electorate seems to prioritise tax cuts ahead of maintaining the currentlevel of public services 'aloheimo %&(&+

Encome differences between different occupations are Iuite modest inFinland : but income distribution is becoming gradually less eIual Thepublic is also increasingly using the private sector 'especially in healthcare services+



Stron" ontitutiona- pro'iion

The rights of citizens have been strengthened, with constitutional regulationscovering 7ey aspects of public policy 'in addition to fundamental rights+ :including the right to free basic education and to social security and health careservices

These constitutional provisions are largely based on amendments that entered

into force in (**3 and they include for the first time economic, social and culturalrights

Section 16 - Educational rights #veryone has the right to basic education free of charge rovisions on the duty

to receive education are laid down by an >ct The public authorities shall, asprovided in more detail by an >ct, guarantee for everyone eIual opportunity to

receive other educational services in accordance with their ability and specialneeds, as well as the opportunity to develop themselves without being preventedby economic hardship The freedom of science, the arts and higher education isguaranteed



Section 19 - The right to social security Those who cannot obtain the means necessary for a life of dignity have the right

to receive indispensable subsistence and care #veryone shall be guaranteed byan >ct the right to basic subsistence in the event of unemployment, illness, anddisability and during old age as well as at the birth of a child or the loss of aprovider The public authorities shall guarantee for everyone, as provided in moredetail by an >ct, adeIuate social, health and medical services and promote thehealth of the population 9oreover, the public authorities shall support families

and others responsible for providing for children so that they have the ability toensure the wellbeing and personal development of the children The publicauthorities shall promote the right of everyone to housing and the opportunity toarrange their own housing

Section 17 - ight to one!s language and culture The national languages of Finland are Finnish and Swedish

The right of everyone to use his or her own language, either Finnish or Swedish,before courts of law and other authorities, and to receive official documents in thatlanguage, shall be guaranteed by an >ct The public authorities shall provide forthe cultural and societal needs of the Finnish-spea7ing and Swedish-spea7ingpopulations of the country on an eIual basis

FOREIN AN= SECRITY POLICY



FOREIN AN= SECRITY POLICY

T*& Co-# ar p&rio# FinlandDs independence was very much on the line : not only during the

wars '(*5*-&, (*(-+, but also in the immediate post-war years Hbjective. to achieve the maximum level of internal autonomy while living

in the shadow of the Kremlin : Finland had to assure the Soviet leadersthat its territory would not be used to attac7 the Soviet $nion

(*2. Finland and the Soviet $nion signed the Treaty of Friendship,"ooperation, and 9utual >ssistance 'F"9>+

Buring the "old War, Finland was not seriously able to consider joining#uropean integration 'beyond associate membership of the #uropeanFree Trade >ssociation '#FT>++

The official policy of neutrality 'or non-alignment+ enjoyed high levels ofsupport 'and was probably the only realistic optionO compulsoryconsensusD+

Aft&r t*& Co-# ar F"9> was abolished in (**( Finland applied for #$ membership in (**%, joining the $nion in (**3



With the disappearance of the Soviet threat, the entry of #$ on to thedomestic political agenda, and the reductions in the powers of thepresident, security issues have become the subject of much moreintensive domestic debate

The president is still under the new constitution 'which entered intoforce in %&&&+ in charge of foreign policy, but shares that leadershiptogether with the government : with #$ issues almost exclusively thedomain of the government

The old policy of neutrality 'or non-alignment+ has effectively beenabandoned

En addition to becoming an active player in the development of #$Dsforeign and security policy, Finland has moved closer to C>TH, ta7ingpart in the various artnerships for eace operations 'planning, ma7ingeIuipment interoperable with C>TH forces etc+

Gut, actual C>TH membership is still a fairly distant prospect : not leastbecause the public opposes it



Po-i,0+a!in"

Formulation of national foreign and security policies is based on broadpartisan consensus

> 7ey role is performed by the government report on Finnish security

and defence policy The report is published roughly every four yearsand is prepared by a wor7ing group where both the government andopposition parties are represented

Ku&tion for t*& futur&

Should one abandon the conscript army and the goal of territorialdefence in favour of a smaller 'professional+ army capable of ta7ingpart in international crisis management operationsL

What international crisis management operations should Finland ta7epart in and in what capacityL

FINLAN= AN=



EROPEAN INTERATION



T*& Euro&ptia- Nor#i r&"ion

The Cordic region is usually associated with #uroscepticism, with the Cordicpeople less supportive of integration than the citizens of the #$ as a whole

This #uroscepticism is usually explained by the affluence of the region thattogether with the egalitarian welfare state model ma7e Finns 'and the Cordicpeople+ less interested in transferring policy-ma7ing powers to the #uropeanlevel

@eflecting the protestant political culture, concepts such as nation-state andnational sovereignty have also traditionally occupied a more central place in thediscourse of the Cordic polities than in most "entral and Southern #uropean #$countries

But> in Finland a broad partisan consensus emerged 'at least until the %&((elections+ for national #uropean policy that can be characterized as flexible andconstructive and has sought to consolidate FinlandDs position in the inner core ofthe $nion

Finland is also the only Cordic country that belongs to the eurozone, with thesingle currency basically adopted without much political contestation



R&aon for %oinin" t*& E

The broad support for membership shown by the political elite before thereferendum is explained by both economic interests and security considerations

Finland is heavily dependent on trade, and beginning from the (*2&s, theindustry 'particularly the influential wood-processing sector+ had expressed itspreferences by increasing its investments in Western #urope

>s barter trade with the Soviet regime had accounted for about one-fifth ofnational trade, the demise of the communist bloc increased trade dependenceon the #$ countries

The heavy recession of the early (**&s, including the instability in monetarypolicy and the devaluation of markka, further convinced the industry and thetrade unions about the importance of joining the $nion

The only significant interest group campaigning against membership was The"entral $nion of >gricultural roducers and Forest Hwners, a position explainedby the anticipated negative impact of the "ommon >gricultural olicy '">+ onthe farming sector



The rather uncertain political situation in @ussia brought securityconcerns to the fore While security policy considerations were often downplayed during the

referendum campaign, there is no doubt that the security dimensionwas a 7ey factor behind the decision of both the elite and the voters tosupport #$ membership

Endeed, the importance accorded to security policy is what distinguishes

the Finnish case from the other Cordic countries 9oreover, in general there was a broader cultural argument about re- joining the West '>rter (**3+

The significance of #$ membership for Finland should not beunderestimated, for it constituted a 7ey element in the process ofwholesale re-identification on the international stageD '>rter %&&&. )*(+

While the pro-#$ camp argued before the membership referendum

held in (** that by joining the $nion Finland would merely bemaintaining or consolidating its place among Western #uropeancountries, there is little doubt that especially among foreign observersthe westernD identity of Finland was far less clear



Fin-an#/ E po-i,

While many commentators expected Finland to become a cautiousmember state, Finland has since joining the #$ in (**3 consistentlysupported deeper integration

En membership negotiations the centre-right >ho government acceptedthe 9aastricht Treaty without any major opt-out clauses or policyexemptions

En the Entergovernmental "onferences held since joining the #$,Finland has supported further transfers of competencies from thenational level to the $nion, together with the extension of majorityvoting in the "ouncil and a stronger role for the "ommission and the#uropean arliament

9oreover, Finland joined the third stage of #9$ among the firstcountries, and has played an active role in the further development of"FS

Finan& +init&r Sau-i Niinit p*on& *i r&&!

-- 3 3 ;;



o--&a"u& 3.3.;;



$nderlying this pro-integrationist stance is the conviction that a strongand efficient #$ can best protect the rights and interests of smallermember states, as intergovernmental processes tend to favour largermember states

#urosceptical parties remained until the %&(( elections marginalized inFinnish politics, despite the fact that many of the parties : notably the

"entre, the 4reen ?eague, and the ?eft >lliance : were severelydivided over membership in the referendum held in Hctober (** This is something of a paradox, considering the narrow majority '3/ =+

in favour of membership in the (** referendum, and the persistence ofa rather #urosceptical public opinion

The only consistently #urosceptical party that has won seats in the#dus7unta since Finland joined the $nion is The Finns, and itsbrea7through in the %&(( elections may indicate 'at least short-term+changes to national #$ policy



For+u-atin" nationa- E po-i,

#$ matters belong to the competence of the government, withpresidential involvement limited to Treaty changes 'ratification phase+and co-operating with the government in "FS matters

The national coordination system in #$ policy is based on wideconsultation among both public and private actors

The priority of the national #$ coordination system is to manufacturenational unanimity or at least broad consensus, which can arguably betranslated into additional influence in the "ouncil

While the overall aim is to spea7 with one voice on all levels of decisionshaping in GrusselsD 'Stubb et al %&&(. 5&)+, the importance attachedto achieving such consistency varies between policy areas andindividual legislative initiatives

Becision-ma7ing in both security and #$ policies is thus based onsearch for broad 'elite+ consensus



Par-ia+&ntar, ontro- in E +att&r

While the #dus7unta has lost power to the #$, it has subjected thegovernment to relatively tight scrutiny in #$ matters

The scrutiny model of the #dus7unta has four main strengths. the position of the parliament is regulated in the constitution

the #dus7unta gets involved relatively early in the processing of #$legislation the parliament enjoys unlimited access to information from the

government the responsibility of monitoring #uropean matters is delegated

downwards to specialised committees The 4rand "ommittee is responsible for coordinating the #dus7untaDs

positions in #$ matters, while the Foreign >ffairs "ommittee isresponsible for "FS matters

The minister appears in the 4rand "ommittee in person before and,when reIuired, after the "ouncil meeting



While the 4rand "ommittee does not give legally binding votinginstructions to the ministers, it is extremely rare for a minister to actagainst its wishes

The standing committees are closely involved in the scrutiny of #$matters, and the final position of the 4rand "ommittee is based onguidelines from the standing committees

The active scrutiny of #uropean legislation has improved the overalldialogue between the government and the #dus7unta The regularappearance of ministers before the 4rand "ommittee has led toimproved policy coordination within the cabinet, and has forced theministers to study the issues more thoroughly than might otherwise bethe case

>n often-mentioned feature of the #$ policy process isbureaucratisation, the shift of power from civil servants !owever, theautonomy of civil servants is at least partially counteracted by the activescrutiny of the #dus7unta in #$ matters



>lso in the #dus7unta the processing of #$ matters is geared towards buildingbroad national consensus

articularly noteworthy has been the lac7 of conflict, or of even real tension,between the government and the #dus7unta on the one hand, and between thegovernment and the opposition on the other hand

The emphasis is on pragmatic examination of #$Ds legislative initiatives in thecommittees, with relatively few partisan ideological debates about national

integration policy or the overall development of integration Hpposition parties are actively involved in formulating national #$ policy in the4rand "ommittee and the specialized committees 4ranting the opposition alarger role in #uropean matters facilitates broad bac7ing for governmental actionat the #uropean level

!owever, it appears that the euro crisis has at least partially changed theconsensual mode of decision-ma7ing in the 4rand "ommittee, the #dus7untaDs#$ committee 1oting has become more common in the 4rand "ommittee, with

the votes reproducing the government:opposition divide that characterisesplenary decision-ma7ing



ANRY BIR=S1

"onsidering the debates and campaigns of the >pril %&(( elections, the currentsix-pac7D government led by 9 Katainen has been under serious politicalpressure to defend national interests in Grussels

Groadly spea7ing, it appears that the emphasis on national interests and on therole of smaller member states has become more pronounced in Finland inrecent years, and the success of The Finns has clearly pushed the other parties

in the direction of more cautious #$ policies Endeed, since entering office in June %&(( the cabinet has ta7en a tougher

stance in #$ negotiations The government has demanded specific guarantees for its bail-out payments to euro area

countriesO was alone in rejecting an 23= majority in decision-ma7ing for the #uropean

Stability 9echanism, demanding unanimity insteadO and, together with the Cetherlands, bloc7ed the entry of Gulgaria and @omania

into the Schengen area



Whether this signals a more long-term change in national integrationpolicy remains to be seen, but at least in the short term the Finnishgovernment N and particularly the Social Bemocrats, given theirvociferous criticism of the euro area stabilisation measures during theelection campaign N is under considerable domestic pressure not toma7e too many concessions in Grussels

While problematic for the government, these developments arecertainly good news in terms of democracy and public debate Since the euro crisis began in the spring of %&(& the fate of the euro,

and #uropean integration more broadly spea7ing, have appearedrepeatedly in the media and in parliamentary debates

These parliamentary debates about the eurozone are thus arguably thefirst time that the government has really been forced to justify anddefend its #$ policies in public N and that the opposition has attac7edthe cabinet publicly over the handling of #$ matters

SE=ISH0SPEAIN MINORITY



Hitor, The share of Finns spea7ing Swedish as their first language has declined

steadily since the (*th century En (*&& (%* = of Finns were Swedish-spea7ing but by (*3& their share had

declined already down to 2) = En (**& 3*= of Finns spo7e Swedish as theirfirst language and currently that share is 3 =

Finland belonged to Sweden until (2&*, when it became an autonomous 4randBuchy of the @ussian empire >fter being a part of Sweden for )3& years,

Swedish remained the language of administration throughout the first half of the(*th century

Et was not until (2)5 that Finnish was recognized as an official language inFinland For some time, @ussian was also used, and the administration was infact multilingual

Finnish nationalist sentiments and movements gained in strength during thelatter half of the (*th century, and the nationalistsV actions were primarilydirected against the Swedish-spea7ing elites that had very strong positions inboth economic and political decision-ma7ing Buring this period also theSwedish-spea7ing middle class asserted itself, mobilising the Swedish-spea7ersin defence of their language

>fter the declaration of independence, Finnish very soon became the dominantlanguage



&o"rap*,

Finnish municipalities are either monolingual or bilingual Where theentire population spea7s the same mother tongue, or where thelinguistic minority is less than 2 =, the municipality is monolingual Gutif the linguistic minority consists of over 5 &&& people, the municipality

is regarded as bilingual, irrespective of the percentage of minoritylanguage spea7ers Hut of a total of 5%& municipalities 'in %&(5+, (* are monolingually

Swedish '() of which are in Aland+, 5& are bilingual with Swedish-spea7ers as the majority in (% of them, and the remaining municipalitiesare monolingually Finnish

The majority of Swedish-spea7ers live in bilingual municipalities that are

to a great extent dominated by the Finnish language Hnly approximately = of Swedish-spea7ers reside in monolingualFinnish municipalities

SE=ISH0SPEAIN MNICIPALITIES ;33



With the urbanization and industrialization before and after the Second WorldWar, formerly Swedish-spea7ing areas, especially in the capital region, receiveda massive influx of Finnish spea7ers

>nother element of societal change was the migration, from the (*3&s to the(*2&s, of Swedish-spea7ing Finns to Sweden

The Swedish-spea7ing minority is therefore Iuite exceptional among #uropeanminorities in the sense that it is present both in the centre and in the periphery

The periphery applies here particularly to the western region of Hstrobothnia thatis territorially cut off from the southern parts of the country where Swedish isspo7en The Swedish minority has also a very strong presence in the centre,particularly in the capital area

T*& -an"ua"& iu&

>ccording to the constitution Finnish and Swedish are the official nationallanguages ractically all official documents produced by national publicauthorities are available thus in both Finnish and Swedish



>lthough both languages are accorded the same status, this is perhapsmore of a moral and political principle than a law for immediateapplication

The constitution also stipulates that the cultural and social needs of thetwo language groups shall be met on eIual grounds This forms thebasis for providing all citizens with the same services

Since the first decades of independence the language Iuestion haseffectively become a low salience issue, and since the Second WorldWar opposition to bilingualism among political parties has beenpractically non-existent

>ll parties represented in #dus7unta are in favour of bilingualism Thelanguage Iuestion really surfaces only in relation to the status ofSwedish as a compulsory subject in schools throughout the country,with some interest groups and politicians demanding that Finnish-spea7ing pupils should have the right to decide whether they want tostudy Swedish or not



Several factors have contributed to the depoliticisation of the languageIuestion

(+ The Swedish-spea7ing minority is numerically relatively small and lives in twoterritorial enclaves along the coastline !ence the majority of Finnish-spea7ershave very little contact with the Swedish-spea7ers

%+ The Swedish-spea7ers have traditionally shown flexibility by using Finnish intheir daily activities, particularly so in the larger cities

5+ En bilingual municipalities contacts across the language border are numerous,and this social integration has further reduced the modest tensions thatexisted during the first decades after independence

+ > 7ey role is performed by the fact that a clear majority of Swedish-spea7ers7now Finnish >bout one-fifth of all Swedish-spea7ing Finns are practicallymonolingual in Swedish, the rest 7now Finnish fairly well and use it to avarying extent both in everyday life and at wor7

3+ >nd, the clear majority of Finnish-spea7ers, particularly members of the

economic and political elites, are strongly in favour of bilingualism, in partbecause having a Swedish-spea7ing minority has been seen more as anasset than a burden, especially in terms of maintaining contacts with theCordic countries



S&#i* P&op-&/ Part,

The Swedish eopleVs arty 'Svenska folkpartiet , SF+ is effectively a languageparty, whose main function is to safeguard the interests of the Swedish-spea7ingminority in Finland

SF was an active participant in the state-building process preceding and afterthe declaration of independence The Swedish arty, its predecessor that wasestablished approximately in (2/&, acted as a counterweight to the

strengthening Finnish nationalism, see7ing to create a Finnish-Swedish identityamong the Swedish-spea7ing minority The introduction of universal suffrage in (*&) changed the political situation as

the Swedish-spea7ing minority had to organise itself in order to defend itsinterests !ence when the SF was formed in !elsin7i (*&), it immediatelydeveloped into a vehicle for safeguarding the rights of the whole Swedish-spea7ing minority, and successfully bridged the divide that had existed withinthat minority between the urban elites and the rural people

The Swedish eopleDs arty has participated in most governments, including allcabinets formed after (*/* The near-permanent government status of the partycan be interpreted as a mechanism for protecting minority rights, but it is alsoexplained by the centrist and flexible ideology of the party



The policy objectives of the party do not include separatist or autonomist goalsWith the rights of the linguistic minority well protected by national legislation, andwith the language Iuestion no longer really a salient issue in party competition,SF focuses instead on influencing policy-ma7ing at the national level

>s the overwhelming majority of Swedish-spea7ers live in two enclaves alongthe coastline that are not connected to each other, this geographical dispersionhas also contributed to the low emphasis on territorial aspirations

Et has been estimated that on average about three Iuarters of the Swedish-spea7ing Finns vote for SF The remaining Iuarter of Swedish-spea7ers voteprimarily for the leftist parties, particularly the Social Bemocrats but also the ?eft

>lliance and lately the 4reen ?eague "onsidering that language is the unifying element 7eeping the party together, the

party electorate is necessarily very heterogeneous, ranging from liberal, post-materialist voters to both conservative smallholders in the Hstrobothnia regionand the business elite in the south that includes some of the wealthiest people inthe country

Geing able to rely on getting the vote of the clear majority of Swedish-spea7ers,SF has tried to broaden its appeal to both bilingual Finns and to the Finnish-spea7ers, lately primarily by advertising itself as a liberal party !owever, themonolingualism of the party and its role and image as the defender of theinterests of the Swedish-spea7ers are obstacles to attracting the votes ofFinnish-spea7ers

CONCL=IN =ISCSSION



Cono-i#ation of par-ia+&ntar, #&+ora,

The Finnish political system has experienced a major change since the (*2&s,with the parliament and the government emerging from the shadow of thepresident 'and the Soviet $nion+ as the central political institutions

Finland used to be characterised by short-lived and unstable governments living

under the shadow of the president Gut the governments appointed after the eraof resident Ke77onen have basically stayed in office for the whole four-yearelectoral period : a period which Cousiainen '%&&)+ has termed the era ofstable majority parliamentarismD

Cormally, membership of the #$ is interpreted as a major external constraint onnational political systems !owever, #$ membership has simultaneouslystrengthened parliamentary democracy in Finland by consolidating the politicalleadership of the government and the 9

Foreign policy excluded, Finland is hence effectively now a standardDparliamentary democracy



> nice illustration of this is the increased role of the #dus7unta as a forum fordebate Whereas still in the early (*2&s the number of plenary speeches madeby 9s during the lifetime of a government was below ten, their number hasincreased rapidly since the !ol7eri governments '(*2/-(**(+ For example, 9aavo ?ipponen spo7e in the parliament )&3 times between the (*** and %&&5elections The 9 now appears almost on a wee7ly basis in the #dus7unta todefend his governmentDs actions

While the president does still enjoy Iuite significant powers, particularly

regarding foreign policy, the political culture, at least among the elites, seems tobe developing towards the consolidation of parliamentary government, with thepresident in the bac7ground in domestic politics

Stron" "o'&rn+&nt an# offi&0&&!in" parti&

When comparing with other #uropean countries, Finnish governments are

outliers in three respects. their parliamentary support, level of fragmentation, andideological diversity 4overnment formation is now based on partisan negotiations and, free from

presidential interference or the need to ta7e into account foreign policyimperatives, also more responsive to the election result than before



The investiture vote reIuires the party groups of the government partiesin the #dus7unta to actively support the cabinet from the beginning, andnot surprisingly, the government programme has become moreimportant in guiding government action

The abolishment of the deferment rule has wea7ened the ability of theopposition to influence public policy : and has contributed to the office-see7ing behaviour of political parties

C*a--&n"& for po-itia- parti&

>t the same time, Finnish political parties are facing similar challengesas parties in the majority of #uropean countries

The strengthening of the parties in the national political institutions

stands in contrast to the wea7ening of the parties among the electorate Turnout has declined almost consistently ?ess trust in political institutions and political parties 9oreover, a

smaller share of citizens holds party membership cards



The cleavage structure is undergoing gradual transformation, and theideological moderation inherent in government formation and informulating national #$ policies widens the gap between citizens andelected office holders

Sti-- a on&nua- po-it,1

Bespite the parliamentarisation of the Finnish political system, Finnishpolitics is still by and large based on consensual arrangements

9ain consensual features are. 9ultiparty governments artisan cooperation across the left-right dimension "orporatism Welfare state Becision ma7ing in foreign and #$ policies

the finnish political system_turku (1)

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