ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the historical strength and class base of the Finnish Agrarians in comparative Nordic perspective. It analyses the socio-economic changes underpinning the case for electoral adaptation and the re-designation of the party in 1965. The chapter presents a brief note on the electoral record of the modernising party from its change of name to the present. It considers whether the Centre Party has been genuine pivot party a la Keman. The chapter examines the challenges facing the Centre Party as an opposition party since 1995. It presents an application to the Finnish Agrarian-Centre Party of the catchall strategies enumerated by Otto Kirchheimer. Kirchheimer's formulation focuses on the strategic reorientation of prospective catchall parties in four distinctive arenas: the ideological arena and the role of ideology in institutional adaptation; the organisational arena and the leader-member relationship. The arenas also are the electoral-parliamentary arena and the search for new voters; and the corporate arena with the focus on party-group linkages.
