This article gives an overview of liberalism and centrism in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. It is limited to

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

and

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to Left-w ...

parties A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ means a reference to another party in that scheme. For inclusion in this scheme it is not necessary so that parties labeled themselves as a liberal party. Liberalism was a major force in Finland since 1894. After independence the current gradually decreased. A major other force, agrarianism, choose in 1965 to develop itself into a more centrist current. The liberal character of the Finnish Center (''Suomen Keskusta''), member of LI and ELDR, is based on liberal ideas like

decentralization Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group. Conce ...

, peasant-like freedom and

progressivism Progressivism holds that it is possible to improve human societies through political action. As a political movement, progressivism seeks to advance the human condition through social reform based on purported advancements in science, tec ...

. The Swedish minority party

Swedish People's Party The Swedish People's Party of Finland ( sv, Svenska folkpartiet i Finland (SFP); fi, Suomen ruotsalainen kansanpuolue (RKP)) is a political party in Finland aiming to represent the interests of the minority Swedish-speaking population of Finlan ...

(''Svenska Folkpartiet i Finland'') is also a member of LI, ELDR. The original liberal current is now organized in the Liberals (''Liberaalit''), a very small extra-parliamentary party. At the autonomous island of

Åland Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an autonomous and demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1,580 km2, and a populat ...

the

Liberals for Åland The Liberals for Åland ( sv, Liberalerna på Åland) is a liberal political party on the Åland Islands. The party is an observer member of the Liberal International. In the 2015 legislative elections, the party received the largest number of vo ...

(''Liberalerna på Åland'') are a dominant force.

The timeline

Liberal Club / Liberal Party

*1877: Liberals formed the Liberal Club (''Liberaalinen Klubi''), renamed in 1880 Liberal Party (''Liberaalinen Puolue'') *1882: The Liberal Party disappeared

From Young Finnish Party to Liberals

*1894: Constitutionalist

fennoman The Fennoman movement or Fennomania was a Finnish nationalist movement in the 19th-century Grand Duchy of Finland, built on the work of the ''fennophile'' interests of the 18th and early-19th centuries. History After the Crimean War, Fennoma ...

s organized into the Young Finnish faction within the Finnish Party (''Nuorsuomalainen Puolue'') *1905: The Young Finnish Party secedes from the Finnish Party. *1918: The Republican factions of the two Finnish parties reorganise into the

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...

(''Kansallinen Edistyspuolue'') *1951: The Progressive Party falls apart into the Finnish People's Party (''Suomen Kansanpuolue'') and the ⇒ Free-minded League (''Vapaamielisten liitto'') *1965: The People's Party and the ⇒ Free-minded League reunite into the Liberal People's Party (''Liberaalinen Kansanpuolue'') *1982: The Liberal People's Party associated itself with the ⇒ Centre Party, whilst some liberal youth activists join the Greens. *1983: The Liberal People's Party loses all of seats in the Parliament for the first time. *1986: The Liberal People's Party disassociated itself from the ⇒ Centre Party *1991: The Liberal People's Party returns to parliament with one MP. *1995: The Liberal People's Party loses its only MP. *2000: The Liberal People's Party renames itself Liberals (''Liberaalit'') *2007: Removed from the party registry after failing to get a seat in two consecutive parliamentary elections

Swedish People's Party

*1906: Liberal svekomans formed the present-day Swedish People's Party in Finland (''Svenska Folkpartiet i Finland'') *1919: Republicans formed the

Liberal Swedish Party The Liberal Swedish Party ( sv, Svenska frisinnade partiet, fi, Ruotsalainen vapaamielinen puolue, , Swedish Free-Minded Party, ''RVP'') was a political party in Finland, working amongst the Swedish-speaking minority. The party founded in 1919 ...

(''Svensk Vänster'') *1951: Liberal Swedish Party merged with SFP

People's Party

*1917: Progressive liberals formed the People's Party (''Kansanpuolue'') *1918: The People's Party merged into the ⇒ National Progressive Party

Free-minded League

*1951: The ⇒ National Progressive Party fell apart and the Free-minded League (''Vapaamielisten Liitto'') is formed *1965: The League merged with the ⇒ Finnish People's Party into the ⇒ Liberal People's Party

Centre Party / Finnish Centre

Centrists *1965: The agrarian '' Agrarian League'' (Maalaisliitto) reorganised itself into the Centre Party (''Keskustapuolue''). *1988: The Centre Party is renamed Finnish Centre (''Suomen Keskusta'')

Åland

Liberals for Åland

*1967: Liberals organised itself into the Centrist Liberals (''Mittenliberalerna'') *1971: The Centrist Liberals are renamed Electoral Union Liberal Assembly (''Valforbundet Liberal Samling'') *1978: VLS and ⇒ LoS–Liberals merged into the

(''Liberalerna på Åland'')

Centre Party

*1967: The Rural and Archipelago Electoral Union (''Landsbygdens och Skargardens Valforbund'') was founded *1975: The LoS–Liberals (''LoS–Liberalerna'') seceded from the Rural and Archipelago Electoral Union *1976: The Rural and Archipelago Electoral Union is renamed

Åland Centre The Åland Centre ( sv, Åländska Centern) is an agrarian-centrist political party on the Åland Islands. The party was founded by Karl-Anders Bergman in 1976. At the 2003 election, the party won 24.1% of the popular vote and 7 out of 30 seats ...

(''Åländska Centern'') *1978: VLS and ⇒ LoS–Liberals merged into the ⇒ Liberals for Åland

Liberal and centrist leaders

Kansallinen Edistyspuolue The National Progressive Party ( fi, Kansallinen Edistyspuolue; sv, Framstegspartiet) was a liberal political party in Finland from 1918 to 1951. The party was founded 8 December 1918, after the Finnish Civil War, by the republican majority ...

: Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg *

Maalaisliitto The Centre Party ( fi, Suomen Keskusta , ''Kesk''; sv, Centern i Finland), officially the Centre Party of Finland, is an agrarian political party in Finland. Ideologically, the Centre Party is positioned in the centre on the political spect ...

/ Keskustapuolue:

Urho Kekkonen Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (; 3 September 1900 – 31 August 1986), often referred to by his initials UKK, was a Finnish politician who served as the eighth and longest-serving president of Finland from 1956 to 1982. He also served as prime minister ...

Keskusta The Centre Party ( fi, Suomen Keskusta , ''Kesk''; sv, Centern i Finland), officially the Centre Party of Finland, is an agrarian political party in Finland. Ideologically, the Centre Party is positioned in the centre on the political spect ...

Esko Aho Esko Tapani Aho (born 20 May 1954) is a Finnish politician who was prime minister of Finland from 1991 to 1995. Early life and career Aho was born in Veteli, Finland. Prior to attending university, he began a career in politics. From 1974 t ...

- Anneli Jäätteenmäki -

Matti Vanhanen Matti Taneli Vanhanen (; born 4 November 1955) is a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland from 2003 to 2010. He was also Chairman of the Centre Party and President of the European Council in 2006. In his earlier career, he ...

- Mari Kiviniemi -

Juha Sipilä Juha Petri Sipilä (; born 25 April 1961) is a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland from 2015 to 2019. A relative newcomer to politics, he has a successful background in business. He was the leader of the Centre Party fr ...

* Svenska Folkpartiet:

Ole Norrback Johan Ole Norrback (born 18 March 1941) is a Finland-Swedish politician and diplomat. Norrback was born in Övermark. He graduated as a primary school teacher in 1965 and was the ombudsman for the Sfp, Swedish People's Party in Ostrobothnia be ...

- Jan-Erik Enestam - Stefan Wallin -

Carl Haglund Carl Christoffer ”Calle” Haglund (born 29 March 1979 in Espoo) is the CEO of Veritas, a Finnish Pension insurance company, and a former Finnish politician, former chairman of the Swedish People's Party and the former Minister of Defence. He w ...

Liberal thinkers

In the

Contributions to liberal theory Contribution or Contribute may refer to: * ''Contribution'' (album), by Mica Paris (1990) ** "Contribution" (song), title song from the album *Contribution (law), an agreement between defendants in a suit to apportion liability *Contributions, a ...

the following Finnish thinker is included: *

Santeri Alkio Santeri Alkio (born Aleksander Filander; 17 June 1862 – 24 July 1930) was a Finnish politician, author and journalist. He is also considered to be the ideological father of Finnish Centre Party. History Alkio was born in Laihia; his parent ...

(Finland, 1862-1930) *

Anders Chydenius Anders Chydenius (; 26 February 1729 – 1 February 1803) was a Swedish-Finnish Lutheran priest and a member of the Swedish Riksdag, and is known as the leading classical liberal of Nordic history. Born in Sotkamo, Finland (then part of Swed ...

(Finland, 1729-1803)

References

{{Europe topic, Liberalism in

Politics of Finland