Study title

Sustainable Policy-Making: Finnish Policy-Maker Survey 2018

Dataset ID Number

FSD3546

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3546

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Koskimaa, Vesa (University of Tampere. Department of Political Science and International Relations)
• Rapeli, Lauri (Åbo Akademi University. Institutet för samhällsforskning (Samforsk))

Abstract

The survey charted Finnish policy-makers' views on political and governmental decision-making, the present state of long-term policymaking in Finland, and civic participation. The survey was conducted as part of the Participation in Long-Term Decision-Making (PALO) research project. Between 2017 and 2022, the project was funded by the Academy of Finland's Strategic Research Council (SRC) (ID: 312617 and 312676).

First, the respondents were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with various statements regarding politics in general. The statements included, for example, whether policy-makers should primarily make decisions based on expert opinions and whether they should always be obligated to comply with voters' demands. Questions also charted the respondents' opinions on governmental decision-making in Finland in the 2010s, including, for example, whether they thought that policy-makers had mostly focused on current day issues or that group-specific interests had been more highly valued in decision-making than expert opinions. Questions also specifically focused on the respondents' attitudes towards climate change.

Next, the respondents were asked whether they thought various institutions and other actors (e.g. the research community, political parties, the EU, media) had influenced long-term policymaking in Finland. Furthermore, the respondents' opinions were surveyed on whether several phenomena and practices (e.g. results-focused politics, short government terms) had made long-term policymaking more difficult. The respondents were also asked whether they thought various actions could encourage more long-term policymaking. Views on civic participation were examined with questions on, for example, whether the respondents thought 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. Finally, the respondents' views regarding their own future and personality were charted.

Background variables included the respondent's gender, year of birth categorised into five-year age groups, number of children and grandchildren, field of education, job description, years worked in current or corresponding job, administrative branch, how firmly established their political party preference was, and how often they participated in debates concerning everyday political issues as a private individual.

Keywords

citizen participation; climate change; decision making; democracy; political participation; politics

Topic Classification

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

2018

Collection Dates

2018-11

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Members of parliament, staff of parliamentary party offices and party councillors, middle and senior management of ministries, middle and senior management of sector research institutes, and middle and senior management of labour organisations in mainland Finland

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Total universe/Complete enumeration

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

26.4

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

FSD3528 Finnish Citizens' Civic Attitudes 2019

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

To prevent identfication of respondents, variables IP Address, Location Latitude, Location Longitude and variables bv1-bv14 were removed from the data. Additionally, variable Q16 (year of birth) was categorised.

The following variables created by the researcher were removed from the archived data: Q1_1_kään Q1_3_kään Q1_6_kään Q1_8_kään Q1_10_kään Q1_12_kään Q1SUM Q2_2_kään Q2_4_kään Q2_6_kään Q2_7_kään Q2_9_kään Q2_11_kään.

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

Koskimaa, Vesa (University of Tampere) & Rapeli, Lauri (Åbo Akademi University): Sustainable Policy-Making: Finnish Policy-Maker Survey 2018 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2022-07-11). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3546

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

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

Website of the PALO research project: 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 (2022): Voter myopia reassessed. Teoksessa MacKenzie M, Setälä M & Kyllönen S (toim.) Democracy and the future. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Rapeli, Lauri & Vesa Koskimaa (2022): Concerned and willing to pay? Comparing policymaker and citizen attitudes towards climate change. Environmental Politics, 31:3, 542-551.