Authors

• Martikainen, Tuomo (University of Helsinki. Department of Political Science)
• Pehkonen, Kyösti (University of Helsinki. Department of Political Science)

Keywords

Finnishness, attitudes, businesses, democracy, elections, immigrants, political participation, political parties, politicians, politics, social welfare philosophy, urban population, voting, young adults

Abstract

The survey charted young adults' attitudes towards politics, their opinions on the principal matters in politics, and their views on the current political questions.

The respondents' interest in politics was queried, as well as their trust in decision-makers' ability to solve young people's problems. Some questions covered how firm the respondents considered their political views and party preference to be. They were also presented with a set of attitudinal statements on topics such as voting, political parties, the Government, political system in Finland, politicians, joining the EU, development aid, refugees, immigrants, leadership, democracy, large-scale enterprises, welfare state, social benefits, traditional Finnish values, law, and unemployment. In addition, the respondents were given a list of various things (e.g. Finnishness, scientific achievements of the Finns, Finnish social security and health care system) and asked to choose which items on the list make them feel proud about Finland.

Background variables included the respondent's municipality of residence, gender, age, marital status, education level, socio-economic status, and spells of unemployment during the past two years. Those who were employed were asked about their occupational status, students were asked about their educational institution, and those who were unemployed were in turn asked about the duration of unemployment during the past two years and occupational status before unemployment. Additional background variables included how citizens should relate to elections and voting, whether R were going to use the right to vote in the future, which party R would vote for in parliamentary elections, and which party R voted for in the 1992 municipal elections.