Authors

• Finnish Business and Policy Forum (EVA)

Keywords

European integration, attitudes, decision making, foreign policy, heads of state, international relations, labour market, labour market, national security, politics, racism

Abstract

The study charted Finnish people's values and attitudes. The themes of the Autumn 2023 survey included politics in Finland, the reform of labour market legislation, racism, security and threats, international politics, presidential powers and role, and the future of Ukraine.

First, the respondents were presented with attitudinal statements concerning a variety of social topics, such as politics, the labour market, entrepreneurship, Finland's foreign relations, hate speech, presidential powers and Finland's NATO membership.

Next, the respondents' views on politics and politicians in Finland were examined with a series of attitudinal statements (e.g. 'Power is concentrated in too few hands, small circle of true decision-makers”, 'Listen carefully to citizens' opinions and carry out the will of the people”). The respondents' opinions on the reformation of labour legislation were surveyed by asking whether various labour market issues (e.g. political strikes, use of fixed-term contracts) should be regulated more loosely or strictly in the future or whether the legislation should remain the same as at present. The respondents' perception of their household's financial situation and their outlook on their own futures were also charted.

On the topic of racism, the respondents were asked how big of an issue they considered racism to be in Finnish society, how racism they thought Finland was at the moment, how important it was to them that racism was not tolerated in Finland, and to what degree they found certain behaviours and actions to be racist (e.g. discrimination based on ethnic background, overlooking the job application of a person due to a name which indicates a minority ethnicity background, humour and entertainment involving ethnic, cultural, linguistic or religious minorities). Additionally, the respondents were asked how concerned they were about certain security threats (e.g. a military attack on Finland, a global economic crisis, efforts to destabilise Finnish society by hybrid influencing, violence by political extremist groups).

Views on the powers, policies and roles of the Finnish President were investigated. Opinions on presidential power were surveyed by asking the respondents how much power the president should have in areas such as foreign and security policy, EU affairs, national defence, economic policy, labour market issues, and social and health policy. The respondents were also asked how suitable different roles (e.g. 'moral leader, who raises public debate on important issues and uses their authority to promote them”, 'international relations professional, who has an in-depth understanding of international politics and focuses on them”, 'a strong commander-in-chief, who is familiar with the armed forces and capable of making military decisions”) were for next the President of Finland in their opinion. The respondents' views were charted on what model of separation of powers between the government and the President was appropriate for Finland.

The respondents were asked about their views on several influential countries in world politics (e.g. China, Russia, USA, the UK, Germany, Japan). The respondents' views on Russia, China and USA were surveyed with a more detailed series of statements that charted, for example, whether the countries were important trading partners or major military threats. Views on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing war were also investigated with a series of statements (e.g. 'The threat of the war spreading to other countries is receding”, 'Ukraine will retake all the territories captured by Russia, including the Crimean Peninsula”, 'Nuclear weapons will not be deployed”). Finally, opinions were charted on Finland's NATO membership, Finland's EU membership and the currency change to euro.

Background variables included the respondent's gender, age group, number of inhabitants in the municipality of residence, region (NUTS3), type of employer, working hours, type of employment contract, education, economic activity and occupational status, employment sector, trade union membership, what political party R would vote for in parliamentary elections, self-perceived social class, mother tongue and annual gross income of the R's household.