Main opposition Party introduces monetary incentive for local organisations
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The opposition right-of--centre business-oriented National Coalition Party has introduced a system of bonuses to encourage local party organisations to generate more support and recruit more members.
The party has set targets for each district organisation on how many new members it should recruit, or how much more electoral support the party should win in the area.
If the goals are exceeded, the organisations stand to benefit to the tune of thousands of euros. The party has set aside EUR 150,000 for the bonuses.
The reasonably good showing of the National Coalition Party’s candidate Sauli Niinistö in this year’s Presidential elections appears to have given a boost to the overall standings of Finland’s number-three party, which now hopes to build on that foundation.
Two other parties, the Centre Party, and the Social Democrats are open to introducing similar incentives, although there are certain reservations.
SDP Party Secretary Maarit Feldt-Ranta says that she has pondered the possibility herself, because of the great changes in the party-political setup in Finland.
However, she sees some risks in a model of incentives taken from the world of business. As she sees it, voluntary civic activism is based on a different kind of logic than the running of a business.
Centre Party Secretary Eero Lankia also does not reject the idea of incentive bonuses, but he nevertheless has some concerns.
"I can accept it halfway. However, a party is nevertheless an ideological organisation - a fact which should stay in the minds of its members and its supporters. Bringing the idea of efficiency too far can hurt the philosophical side", Lankia says.
He also sees a potential for unfairness.
"There can be factors behind a good electoral result that cannot be explained by any human input of work. For instance, in some electoral district, there can be a candidate that is especially attractive from the whole party’s point of view, even though the success is not necessarily the result of efforts made by any party functionary."
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 29.5.2006 - TODAY |
 Main opposition Party introduces monetary incentive for local organisations
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