Study title

Parties and Local Democracy 1996: Electors

Dataset ID Number

FSD1023

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD1023
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd1023

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Borg, Sami (University of Tampere)

Abstract

The survey compared Finnish voters with the members of seven largest political parties, candidates of the 1996 municipal elections and municipal council members. The respondents were asked which party they would vote for in the next parliamentary elections and which party they had voted for in the municipal elections. If the respondents had voted in the municipal elections, reasons for candidate and party choice were surveyed. Non-voters were asked why they had not voted. The role of the media in municipal elections was charted. There were questions about the members' activity in the parties and their interest in elective offices. The respondents were presented with statements concerning municipal policy and politics in general. They were asked to assess to what extent the work of councillors is appreciated, whether they saw themselves as representatives of their background groups in their parties, and how important it was that the municipal council was representative of the municipal electorate. The present state and development needs of a number of municipal services and tasks were evaluated. The party members were questioned about how municipal democracy, service production and efficiency of decision-making could be improved. Finally, the respondents were asked who had real influence in their home municipality, how active party members they thought themselves to be, and how active their own local association was.

Background variables included the respondent's sex, age, occupational group, vocational education, type of employer, household income, type of residence, and municipality of residence.

Keywords

elections; internal politics; local government; local government services; parliamentary elections; political action; political allegiance; political attitudes; political behaviour; political participation; political parties; political power; voting

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Government, political systems and organisations (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Political behaviour and attitudes (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Elections (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Individual datasets

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

Data Collector

• Gallup Finland (Gallup Finland)

Time Period Covered

1996

Collection Dates

1996-10-21 – 1996-11-30

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Population of Finland aged 18 or over at the time of the interview (excluding the Åland Islands)

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Multistage

Normal Omnibus-procedure and an agreement to mail survey. Variables 1-18 were obtained through the Omnibus-survey and variables 19-50 through the mail survey.

Omnibus sample. The sample represents Finnish population aged 15 or over, excluding the citizens of the Åland Islands. Multistage stratified sampling. The target population was stratified according to the number of inhabitants aged 15 or over in each province and in the second stage, by municipality group within each province. Municipalities were classified into five groups: big and small cities (according to population size) and into three rural municipality groups (according to their industrial structure). The sample municipalities were selected representatively. In the third stage, sample households were selected using the starting point method. The first interview was conducted in the randomly selected starting point, after which the interviewer proceeded to the next five households. From each household the person who corresponded to the sex and age criteria defined in the selection card was chosen for the interview.

Collection Mode

Face-to-face interview

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: English and Finnish.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Number of Cases and Variables

260 variables and 911 cases.

Data Version

4.0

Related Datasets

FSD1021 Parties and Municipal Democracy 1996: Candidates

FSD1022 Parties and Local Democracy 1996: Party Members

FSD1024 Parties and Local Democracy 1996: Combined Data

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

The variable identifying municipality has been removed from the data set.

Weighting

There are no weight variables in the data.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Borg, Sami (University of Tampere): Parties and Local Democracy 1996: Electors [dataset]. Version 4.0 (2018-07-13). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD1023

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Publications

Puolueet 1990-luvulla: näkökulmia suomalaiseen puoluetoimintaan (1997). Toim. Sami Borg. Turku: Turun yliopisto. Valtio-opillisia tutkimuksia; 53.

Palazzolo, Christopher A. (2007). Electoral Independence, Dependence, or Co-Dependence?: a Reassessment of Second-Order Electoral Expectations in Subnational Elections. Atlanta: Emory University. Emory University Dissertations (Ph.D.), Department of Political Science.

Oulasvirta, Lasse & Brännkärr, Christer (2001). Toimiva kunta. Helsinki: Kuntakoulutus.

Borg, Sami (1998). Puolueet ja edustuksellinen kunnallisdemokratia: tutkimus poliittisesta edustautumisesta ja legitimiteetistä. Tampere: Tampereen yliopisto. Tampereen yliopisto. Kunnallistieteiden laitos. Julkaisusarja; 1/1998.