Study title

Finnish Citizens' Civic Attitudes 2019

Dataset ID Number

FSD3528

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3528

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Åbo Akademi University. Social Science Research Institute

Abstract

The survey studied Finnish citizens' civic attitudes and views on politics. Main themes of the survey included voting behaviour, civic participation, political decision-making, and trust in institutions and other people. The survey was conducted as part of the Participation in Long-Term Decision-Making (PALO) research project. The project was funded by the Academy of Finland's Strategic Research Council (project numbers 312671 and 312676).

First, the respondents were asked whether they had voted in the previous parliamentary elections and which party had they voted for. The respondents' interest in politics and their knowledge about politics and social issues were investigated, and they were asked to identify their alignment on a left-right political spectrum. Civic participation was surveyed by asking the respondents whether during the previous 12 months they had, for example, contacted a politician, been part of political party or group, signed a petition, or taken part in a demonstration. The respondents' views on civic participation in Finland were charted with questions on whether increased civic participation would have a positive impact on Finnish democracy and whether citizens should be given more avenues to take part in public decision-making. Opinions on the use of citizens' forums as a part of the public decision-making process were also investigated.

The respondents' views on long-term decision making in politics were examined with questions on, for example, whether politics should focus more on solving current day issues instead of future challenges, whether political decision-making should be based on public will as expressed through election results rather than expert opinions that are more future-oriented, and whether political decision-makers should be able to make quick decisions even if there was not enough time to establish their long-term consequences. The respondents' satisfaction with the state of democracy in Finland and their trust in in public institutions (e.g. the parliament, judicial system, politicians, political parties, the European Union) and other people were also charted.

The survey also included questions on climate change. The respondents were asked how worried they were about climate change and whether they would be ready to reduce their own standard of living to slow down climate change. The respondents were also asked to estimate how ready people in Finland in general would be reduce to their standard of living to combat climate change.

Background variables included, among others, the respondent's gender, year of birth, the highest education attained, marital status, degree of religiosity, gross annual income, economic activity, and degree of urbanisation of R's neighourbood.

Keywords

attitudes; citizen participation; citizenship; climate change; decision making; democracy; political participation; politics; social influence; trust; voting behaviour

Topic Classification

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

• Åbo Akademi University. Social Science Research Institute

Time Period Covered

2019

Collection Dates

2019-02-11 – 2019-02-18

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Persons aged over 18 living in mainland Finland

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Non-probability: Quota

The sample was drawn from a Qualtrics respondent panel that is representative of Finland's adult population. Quota sampling was used to ensure that the proportions of different age groups and the proportions of men and women included in the sample corresponded to the target population.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

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: Finnish.

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

Data Version

1.0

Related Datasets

FSD3546 Sustainable Policy-Making: Finnish Policy-Maker Survey 2018

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

Åbo Akademi University: Finnish Citizens' Civic Attitudes 2019 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2022-05-20). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3528

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 Materials

Participation in Long-Term Decision-Making (PALO) research project website: www.paloresearch.fi/en/

Related Publications

Koskimaa, Vesa & Lauri Rapeli (2020): Fit to govern? Comparing citizen and policy-maker perceptions of deliberative democratic innovations. Policy & Politics, 48:4, 637-652. https://doi.org/10.1332/030557320X15870515357288

Rapeli, Lauri & Marina Lindell (2020): Ehdokkaat ja tulevaisuuteen suuntautuva demokraattinen päätöksenteko. Teoksessa Kestilä-Kekkonen, Elina & Åsa von Schoultz (toim.): Ehdokkaat vaalikentillä: Eduskuntavaalit 2019, ss. 136-146. Oikeusministeriö: Helsinki.