Democracy Finnish Style: The 2011 Election and a Conservative Surge

Tampere Finland

Yesterday Finland held elections for the House of Representatives and I had the opportunity to be a casual observer here in Tampere Finland. After working for more than seven years in US domestic politics I was surprised at the similarities, but mostly the contrasts. I went with my wife and brother-in-law (both Finns) to the polls when they voted. Finland regulates campaigning far more than the US does and I was surprised at the orderliness, silence and complete lack of excitement that accompanied the election. As we walked to the polls the only sign of an election was a few billboards with a list of pictures, names and election numbers for the leftist Social Democratic Party. Finnish flags also appeared on many buildings where they had been absent the day before, but there were no yards signs, rallies, activists, door-to-door campaigning, or phone banking. We simply went to a high school where eight workers monitored the voting.

As I lingered in the lobby waiting for my family to cast their votes, I analyzed a sample ballot and counted 15 parties running candidates. This represents over twice the number of parties I saw on the ballot back home during the past US election. Finland has a hybrid government structure that is something between a presidential (US) and parliamentary (UK). This is called a semi-presidential system. Out of the 15 parties running, winners and loosers will have to form a coalition government (normally the top three parties are the only ones that matter).

One of the similarities between the past 2010 US election and the present Finish election was the shift from left to right on the political spectrum. The headline of the Finnish newspaper Aamulehti read, "Revolution" (Vallankumous). Just as the Tea Party and Republican Party swept away the liberal Democratic Party in the US, a similar phenomenon took place here yesterday. With 70.4% of the eligible voters voting, and with 98.8 % of the votes counted, the numbers are:

National Coalition (right of center) 20.1%, down from 50 to 44 seats, but now largest party
Social Democratic Party (left of center) 19.2%, down from 45 to 42 seat, second largest.
True Finns (right of center) 19.1%, from 5 to 39 seats and had the largest gains by far (similar as a "political phenomenon" to the Tea Party movement in the US, but organized, established as a party, and pushing different issues).
Center Party 15.9% (moderate to right of center) down from 51 to 35 seats, representing the greatest loss.
Left Party 8.2% (leftist) down from 17 to 14 seats.
Green Party (leftist) 7.2% down from 15 to 10 seats.

Without a doubt this election shifted politics in Finland to a more conservative position with conservative parties taking at least 118 seats. The major issue that seemed to really drive this election was discontent with Finnish membership in the EU. Many Finns now feel that is was a mistake to have joined the EU in 1995. The True Finns Party that swept in this election from a place of obscurity to the third largest party, campaigned mainly on the principle of leaving the EU. Many Finns are angry that Finland is bailing out the economies of other EU members and see many political leaders as having no plan if the EU fails, leaving Finland without even so much as a central bank. Another issue was opposition to current immigration policies. The rise of a new right-of-center-party like the True Finns  draws a striking similarity to the past US election when discontented Americans were attracted to the Tea Party and more conservative stances.