ABSTRACT
This chapter presents Finland profiles of longstanding democracies and of the European Union, and provides essential detail on History, Electoral system, Political parties and cleavages, and Governments. From 1809 to 1917, Finland was a usually autonomous Grand Duchy of Russia. In 1906 universal suffrage was introduced, and Finland thus became the first European country to enfranchise women. In the Cold War decades after World War Two, Finnish foreign policy was constrained by the presence of the Soviet Union. Finland uses a straightforward system of proportional representation in 14 multi-member districts to elect all but one of its 200-member parliament, with calculations using the d’Hondt method. In the traditional socialist versus non-socialist ideological division in Finland has lost relevance as parties have more frequently reached across the traditional left-right spectrum to form coalitions. Swedish speakers in Finland have political representation through the Swedish People’s Party of Finland which was founded in 1906.
