Government report on democracy policy was submitted to the Parliament
The Government approved Finland's first democracy policy report today and submitted it to the Parliament. The report contains definitions of policy as regards the needs to develop democracy and the objectives of democracy policy in the forthcoming years.
The functioning of representative democracy in Finland and citizens’ possibilities to exercise direct influence between elections are examined in the report. In addition, the report includes an assessment of the consultation practices applied within the public administration, in other words citizens' possibilities to participate in and influence the preparation of matters.
In international comparisons, Finland is without exceptions ranked as one of the top democracies in the world. Finland's assets are the stable political system as well as the open and incorrupt public administration. The most significant challenges are the downward trend in voter turnout and the increased inequality in citizen participation. The development is similar also in other western democracies.
A positive trend observed in recent studies is that young people's interest in politics is on the increase. Respect for democracy has also increased in the 2010s.
The Ministry of Justice launched today a new website, demokratia.fi, where links to the various democracy-related websites and news about matters to be decided have been gathered. This kind of website makes it easier for citizens to find the right channel for participation and influence and thus increases the openness and interaction in the public administration.
Easy-to-read versions of the democracy policy report will be published in Finnish, Swedish and English later this spring.
Further information:
Director Kirsi Pimiä, Unit for Democracy, Language Affairs and Fundamental Rights,
tel. 02951 50534
Senior Planning Officer Niklas Wilhelmsson, tel. 02951 50348
e-mail: firstname.lastname(at)om.fi