Authors

• Rapeli, Lauri (Åbo Akademi University)

Keywords

attitudes, democracy, ideologies, political attitudes, political behaviour, political participation, political parties, politicians, politics, social issues

Abstract

The survey charted Finnish people's attitudes and views on politics and democracy. In addition, the survey examined citizens' political participation and awareness through a series of questions on political knowledge. The study is part of the Future of Democracy research unit funded by the Åbo Akademi University Foundation. Some of the same questions are also asked in the archived dataset: FSD2499 Knowledge of Politics and Society 2008.

First, respondents were asked how well they think they know politics and social issues. They were also asked about their trust in people and institutions. This was followed by questions on political parties and voting behaviour. The questionnaire then moved on to explore political opinions and their background. First, respondents were asked how satisfied they were with the functioning of democracy in Finland. Next, they were asked how much they agreed or disagreed with various political statements. They were then asked about their experience of political issues at school and about their own parents' political involvement in their childhood. This was followed by a discussion of social media. Respondents were asked how often they use social media and for what political purposes. They were also asked about other forms of social participation.

Finally, respondents were asked about their general knowledge of politics and the Finnish political system by asking, for example, to which party the constitution assigns state power and which political parties were represented in the government at the time. Further questions were asked, for example, who is currently Prime Minister and which party he or she represents. In addition, questions on parliamentarism, and the activation model were used to measure respondents' factual knowledge. Questions were also asked about the annual expenditure of the Finnish government, the budget and central government income taxation.

Background variables included the respondent's year of birth, gender, NUTS3 region of residence, education, occupational status, mother tongue, gross annual household income and number of children.