Finland
Finland is a high-performing democracy. It is a sparsely populated country that is fairly homogenous but also features three notable historic minorities (in addition to a small foreign-born population): the Sámi indigenous peoples, the Swedish-speaking minority, and the Roma people. Finnish territory also encompasses the Åland islands, an autonomous region that hosts its own parliament and holds one seat in the national legislature. The Finnish political culture is pragmatic, as actors often cooperate across traditional ideological divides. The country’s mixed economy is highly industrialised and is dominated by the services sector but also features some manufacturing, refining, and primary production. In terms of its democratic performance over the last five years, Global State of Democracy (GSoD) Indices data reveals little change; Finland continues to perform in the high ranges across all attributes.
The long history that Finland shares with Sweden accounts for much of the Western and Nordic character of the national political culture. This is not to say that its similarly deep historical ties with Russia have not influenced the development of the modern Finnish state; indeed, domestic politics have always tended to reflect the country’s geopolitical location. The latter is aptly demonstrated by Finland’s 2022 bid to join NATO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Today, Finnish politics takes place within the framework of a multi-party, parliamentary system that is distinctive for its oversized majority coalitions. This structuring of the political system largely reflects the key cleavages within Finnish society: the left-right dimension, and the rural-urban cleavage. To some extent, and perhaps more so historically, the language divide (Finnish/Swedish) also carries explanatory power in terms of national political competition – with the Swedish People’s Party, which represents the interests of the minority Swedish-speaking Finnish population, remaining a frequent coalition partner. Much in line with larger trends in Western Europe, sociocultural dimensions have increasingly come to drive Finnish politics – particularly in terms of post-materialist issues such as immigration, the promotion of gender equality (with special attention to gender-based violence), policy of the European Union, the environment (in connection to the domestic forestry industry), and minority rights - including with respect to the Sámi and the Roma populations. The turn to issue-based politics has partially been driven by the rise of populism since the 2011 parliamentary election, which has been accompanied by a rise in heightened polarization between right wing and most other party supporters. Tension arising from the politicization of sociocultural issues has also been evident in other spheres – with some talking of a “political climate change” associated with growing discontent with the political system.
Finland hosts a comparatively healthy democracy that is, like many of its Western European counterparts, at-times threatened by the restrictive measures advocated for by potent populist currents. Looking ahead, it will be important to watch Fundamental Rights, as Finland has registered an increase of hate speech mainly targeting asylum- seekers, Muslims, persons of African descent, LGBTQIA+ persons, Roma and the Jewish community. Additionally, the ongoing legal reform on the Sami Parliament Act as well as the new progressive trans rights law on gender recognition are likely to impact Finland’s record on Fundamental Rights. It will also be important to watch gender-based violence, with roughly one in three Finnish women having experienced intimate partner violence. This trend exists despite the fact that Finland is a leader in gender equality and has experienced a significant increase in Gender Equality scores over the last two decades. It will be important to consider how a new law that defines rape as based on consent and that toughens sentences for sexual offences may bolster Gender Equality further.
Monthly Event Reports
February 2024 | Former PM Alexander Stubb wins run-off presidential election
On 11 February, Alexander Stubb from the center-right National Coalition Party (NCP) won 51.6 per cent of the vote in the run-off against Pekka Haavisto, who received 48.4 per cent. Haavisto is a member of the centre-left Green Party but ran as an independent candidate. Stubb previously served as Prime Minister from 2014 to 2015, as well as Foreign Minister, Finance Minister, and a Member of the European Parliament. The incumbent President, Sauli Niinistö (NCP), is retiring after serving the maximum two consecutive six-year terms. As head of foreign and security policy, the incoming President will define Finland’s defence planning and NATO cooperation following the country’s recent accession. The President-elect will be inaugurated on 1 March. Voter turnout in the run-off election was 70.7 per cent. Stubb also won the first round of the elections on 28 January with 27.2 per cent of the vote, followed by Haavisto (25.8 per cent) and Jussi Halla-aho, of the far-right Finns party, who came third with 19 per cent. In the first round, three of the nine candidates were women.
September 2023 | Government outlines anti-discrimination plan
The Finnish government released a statement on promoting equality and non-discrimination in response to the multiple racism scandals that have rocked the government since its formation. In it, the government pledges to implement measures such as banning holocaust denial and prohibiting the use of Nazi and communist symbols. It was drafted by a newly convened working group for combatting racism in consultation with civil society and academics. The communique has been met with substantial criticism. Amnesty International has described the plans outlined as inadequate, the opposition Social Democrats called it “too little, too late” and on 3 September, 10,000 attended an anti-racism and anti-government protest in Helsinki. The racism scandal sparked a no-confidence vote on 8 September, which the government and its ministers survived.
July 2023 | Prime Minister urges parliamentary groups to review online behavior rules
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo expressed his opposition to online harassment and called on all parliamentary groups to reassess acceptable online behavior among their members, with the goal of upholding Finland as a role model for freedom of the press. The response comes following criticism of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, who issued a statement calling the online harassment of journalist Ida Erämaa a smear campaign. Erämaa was covering the racist scandals of Cabinet members (Vilhelm Junnila, Minister of Economic Affairs – who later resigned, Riikka Purra, the Finns Party leader and Deputy Prime Minister, and Wille Rydman the Minister of Economic Affairs), when she was subjected to online abuse, including threats of physical and sexual violence, as well as personal comments by MPs. The nonprofit Coalition for Women in Journalism has also condemned this.
June 2023 | Finland forms right-wing coalition government led by National Coalition Party
Following the April parliamentary elections, a coalition deal was reached between the conservative National Coalition Party (NCP), the Eurosceptic Finns Party, the minority-language Swedish People’s Party, and the Christian Democrats. The coalition negotiations lasted 74 days and were the second-longest in the country’s history. The new right-wing coalition holds 108 out of the 200 seats in the Finnish parliament. Petteri Orpo, the NCP leader, has been voted in as the country’s new prime minister. Key policy priorities for the new government are expected to be fiscally conservative changes, such as reduced government deficit and taxes, private sector job creation, and tighter policies on immigration. Out of the 18 ministries, 12 will be led by women, including the ministries of foreign affairs, finance, interior, and justice.
Explore past monthly event reports
GSoD Indices Data 2013-2022
Basic Information
Human Rights Treaties
Global State of Democracy Indices
Hover over the trend lines to see the exact data points across the years
Factors of Democratic Performance Over Time
Use the slider below to see how democratic performance has changed over time