Dialectics between Occupational and Party Structures: Finland since World War II

Abstract

The article discusses why the Finnish political system has remained rela tively stable despite rather fundamental changes in the professional structure of the population since the second world war. This problem is examined in the light of various survey-studies from the past few decades. The so-called big parties - the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the Finnish People's Democratic Front (SKDL), the Center Party (the former Ag rarian Union) and the Coalition Party - are traditionally class-based with respect to their supporters. A strictly class-tied mode of voting behavior has nonetheless diminished since the second world war. This is due to the fact that the support from the growing strata of white-collar professionals has been distributed relatively evenly among the different parties. This trend has, on the one hand, promoted the stability of the political field and on the other led to a homogenization of the constituencies of different parties.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Alford, Robert R. Party and Society, USA 1963.

Matheson, David K. Ideology, Political Action and the Finnish Working Class. A Survey Study of Political Behavior, Commentationes Scientiarum Socialium 10, Helsinki 1979.

Opinion polls: 1948, unpublished data, Rantala , Onni , University of Turku.

1966 , Pesonen, Pertti Party Support in a Fragmented System, in Rose, Richard Electoral Behavior: A Comparative Handbook, USA 1974

1976 . Research report by Finnish Gallup

1978 , Research report by Finnish Gallup

Parliamentary Elections : Kansanedustajain vaalit, Tilastotiedotus, Central Statistical Office, Helsinki 1978.

Roberts, K. , Cook, F.G. , Clark, S.C. & Semenoff, Elizabeth The Fragmentary Class Structure, London 1977.

Rose, Richard Comparability in Electoral Studies, in Rose, Richard Electoral Behavior: A Comparative Handbook, USA 1974.

10.

Statistical Yearbook of Finland 1977, Central Statistical Office, Helsinki 1978.

11.

Suhonen, Pertti Äänestäjien valinnat ja puoluejärjestelmän etäisyysrakenne. Research Reports 14, 1976. Institutes of Sociology and Social Psychology, University of Tampere, Finland, Tampere 1976.

12.

Uusitalo, Hannu Class Structure and Party Choice: A Scandinavian Comparison, Research Reports 10, 1975 , Research Group for Comparative Sociology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki 1975.

13.

Valen, Henry & Rokkan, Stein Norway: Conflict Structure and Mass Politics in a European Periphery . in Rose, Richard Electoral Behavior: A Comparative Handbook, USA 1974.