There are reasons for widespread political ignorance

GUEST COLUMN

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By Heikki Paloheimo
     
      According to a survey commissioned by Helsingin Sanomat, only a third of Finns of voting age knew which parties are in the current government run by Mari Kiviniemi. The result gives an unsettling picture of political awareness of the Finnish people.
      More comforting studies have been seen. In a poll taken after the Parliamentary elections of 2003, four respondents out of five were able to name the three largest parties in Parliament. Nine out of ten knew that Paavo Lipponen was in the Social Democratic Party.
      After the elections of 2007 there was a survey in which four out of five knew who the foreign minister of the previous government, and a third of respondents were able to pick out of a list of four countries the one that is a permanent member of the UN Security Council
      Compared with these results reflecting the level of knowledge, public awareness on the parties in the Finnish government is shaky.
     
There are characteristics in Finnish politics which blur who is responsible for the policies that are implemented, and what kinds of alternatives there might be. These factors also blur perceptions of which parties are in the government, and which are in opposition.
      In our foreign policy, which puts a great emphasis on consensus, the government and opposition are not clearly distinguished from each other. Usually it is only the dissidents who stand out from the mainstream.
      In issues of labour policy and social policy, the labour market organisations are usually the ones who dictate terms to the government. For this reason, there are times when there is a centre-right government in power, in which it seems that the Social Democrats, which have a strong following among the labour union movement, would have veto power over the government’s policies.
     
In the period of stable parliamentary rule, which has been the mode since the 1980s, the government has always had more parties than would be needed for a Parliamentary majority.
      The governments of Paavo Lipponen had two-thirds majorities behind them. With the exception of Switzerland, no other West European country has had oversized coalitions as frequently as Finland.
      Large coalitions make it harder for voters to identify those who are responsible for policies that are carried out.
      In Finland, parties take part in coalitions in a much more flexible manner than in any other West European parliamentary country.
      Virtually any type of coalition is possible in Finland. The ideological range of the governments of Paavo Lipponen extended from the Left Alliance to the National Coalition Party.
     
Finland differs from other West European countries also in the fact that parties here do not tell the voters which other parties they would like to form coalitions with after the elections.
      In terms of the government composition, they go into the elections with their headlights turned off.
      In this matter the power of Finnish voters to influence events and their consumer protection are more or less non-existent.
      In elections, citizens have no concept of what kind of a government coalition they should vote for.
      In countries which are governed by political blocs, such as Sweden and Norway, the voters have a much clearer idea of the basic options available to them in elections.
      True Finns’ leader Timo Soini said in Turun Sanomat (March 20th) that on the basis of statements made on political issues, the Centre and the Social Democratic Party would be the best government partners for his party.
      Soini’s revelation cleared up the setup for the voters.
      In some other parties the statement has caused consternation.
      Speaking about government formation before elections is not how things are done in Finland.
     
Some of those who responded to the survey on political knowledge may have thought that the President of the Republic is also part of government power.
      People who think like that may have thought that the Social Democratic Party is a government party.
      The division of labour between the President and the government, which sometimes seems vague and amorphous, and the different forms of consensus politics - excessively broad government coalitions, bypassing the government party division in election campaigns, and the great flexibility of parties in the formation - can make politics hereabouts seem complicated.
      The election system, which emphasises the roles of individual candidates, encourages the parties to compile their lists of candidates in a manner that resembles department stores with special offers for everyone.
      It does not make it easier for voters to establish distinctions between parties.
     
In the European Social Survey (ESS) the citizens of different countries were presented with the following question: “How often do you feel that politics is so complicated that you do not really know what it is about?”
      In the ESS study conducted in 2008 about 20 per cent of Danes and Norwegians said that this happened constantly, or fairly often.
      In Sweden the equivalent figure was 28 per cent, but in Finland it was as high as 44 per cent.
      Similar demoralising figures were seen in Greece, Ukraine, and Turkey.
      From the point of view of complexities of politics, Finland is more a part of Eastern Europe than the West.
     
It is difficult in Finland for citizens to get the right image of who is responsible for politics as implemented, and what the key options in politics are at any given time.
      Voters in elections do not get the chance to take a stand on what kind of a government should be formed after the elections.
      Nearly half of all Finns feel that a change in the political foundation of the government would not have much of an impact on what kind of policy is implemented.
      So is it ultimately such a mystery that Finns know almost as much about the permanent members of the UN Security Council as they do about what parties are in the Finnish government?
     
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 28.3.2011
     
     


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Poll showing poor knowledge of government composition shocks top politicians (22.3.2011)
  Poll shows most Finns have erroneous view of government composition (21.3.2011)

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