Tekijät

• Finnish Research Infrastructure for Public Opinion (FIRIPO)
• Malmberg, Fredrik (Åbo Akademi & Mittuniversitetet)
• Karv, Thomas (Mittuniversitetet)

Asiasanat

attitudes, councillors, democracy, electoral candidates, local government, members of parliament, parliamentary elections, political attitudes, politicians, politics, values, voting, voting behaviour

Sisällön kuvaus

The data consist of two separate survey rounds that examined Finns' views on politics, political positions of trust, and trust in political institutions. The survey included questions measuring political attitudes as well as two experimental research designs. In the first experiment, respondents evaluated the composition of hypothetical local councils, while in the second they compared hypothetical candidates in parliamentary elections. The data were collected as part of the Citizens' Opinion Panel, which is part of the Finnish Research Infrastructure for Public Opinion (FIRIPO).

At the beginning of the survey, respondents were asked about their interest in politics, satisfaction with life, position on the left-right political spectrum, general trust in other people, and trust in key political institutions and actors. The institutions and actors evaluated included Parliament, political parties, the Government, politicians, and central and local government officials. Respondents were also asked about their views on how well democracy functions in Finland and in their municipality, as well as their attitudes towards politicians simultaneously holding multiple positions of trust at different levels of government.

The first experimental section of the survey was based on the evaluation of a hypothetical municipal or city council. Respondents were presented with randomly varying descriptions of the composition of a council, in which the council's political orientation on the left-right spectrum, the political experience of council members, and the proportion of council members simultaneously serving on a wellbeing services county council and/or in Parliament were varied. After reading the description, respondents rated their trust in the council, its ability to make the right decisions, and its competence in carrying out its duties. Finally, respondents were asked attention check questions concerning the composition of the presented council.

The second experimental section of the survey was based on comparisons between candidates in parliamentary elections. Respondents were presented with six comparisons between two hypothetical candidates and asked to choose which candidate they considered more suitable to serve as a Member of Parliament. The candidates were described in terms of several characteristics, including gender, political ideology, the number of mandates held by the candidate, political experience, and municipality of residence. The characteristics varied randomly across the candidate profiles. After each choice, respondents were also asked whether they could imagine voting for the candidate they had selected. The experimental design examined how different candidate characteristics affected the evaluation and selection of candidates in hypothetical parliamentary elections.

Background variables included, among others, age, age group, response language, level of education, type of neighbourhood, political party preference, left-right political self-placement, gender, and the statistical grouping of municipalities.