Political parties in Finland
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This article is a list of political parties in Finland, which includes
Finland's 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 Bothn ...
national-level political parties and excludes local and provincial parties (such as the parties of Åland). A party is defined as a political association whose existence is recorded in the Ministry of Justice's party register. Finland has a
multi-party system In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in ...
.
Coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...
s which comprise a majority of seats in the
Parliament of Finland The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The ...
are the norm. Those parties which are not in government are called the opposition. Due to the lack of an electoral threshold, many parties are usually represented in Parliament. As a result, it is all but impossible for one party to win a majority. Additionally, the socialist and non-socialist blocs usually cannot win enough seats between them to form a governing coalition on their own. Most Finnish governments, particularly since
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, have thus been
grand coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political parties of opposing political ideologies unite in a coalition government. The term is most commonly used in countries where there are ...
s comprising parties stretching across the political spectrum. Parties work in parliamentary groups (''eduskuntaryhmät''), usually voting with
party discipline Party discipline is a system of political norms, rules and subsequent respective consequences for deviance that are designed to ensure the relative cohesion of members of the respective party group. In political parties specifically (often refe ...
, which is however not absolute. Parties are composed of local chapters based in municipalities. In
municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...
, which are fundamental administrative units of the country, parties hold seats in the municipal councils, but often have to compete for them with local non-party groups. Finnish law states that a political association which fulfills certain conditions is eligible to become a political party free of charge. Among these conditions are: * that the primary purpose of the association is to affect governmental affairs, * that it has received at least 5,000 votes in any parliamentary, municipal, or European Parliament election, * that the association's rules secure the following of democratic principles in its decision making and activities, * and that it has a general program based on these rules which expresses the association's principles and goals regarding its actions in governmental affairs. A registered party may nominate candidates in any national and local elections, and a party that is represented in parliament is entitled to a government subsidy relative to its number of seats. To qualify as a registered party, an association must have bylaws guaranteeing democratic internal organization and must be able to present 5,000 signatures from supporters who are eligible to vote. A party that fails to win a single seat in two consecutive parliamentary elections is stricken from the register but may apply again. (In contrast, a
voluntary association A voluntary group or union (also sometimes called a voluntary organization, common-interest association, association, or society) is a group of individuals who enter into an agreement, usually as volunteers, to form a body (or organization) to ac ...
has a requirement of 20,000 supporters and is not eligible for party subsidy.)


Parliamentary parties


Extra-parliamentary parties


Registered

Those parties that have received neither a seat in the Parliament of Finland nor in the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...
, but which are registered political parties, are listed below.


Unregistered


Historical parties


Parliamentary historical parties


Extra-parliamentary historical parties

* Swedish party (''Ruotsalainen puolue'') 1870–1906 *
Liberal party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...
(''Liberaalinen puolue'') 1880–1885 *
Finnish Active Resistance Party Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...
(''Suomen aktiivinen vastustuspuolue'') 1904–1908 * National Workers' Party (''Kansallinen Työväenpuolue'') 1917–? *
Socialist Party of Work Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the econ ...
(''Sosialistinen Työpuolue'') 1917–1919 * Peasant People's Party (''Talonpoikaiskansan puolue'') 1924–1933 * Farmers' Party (''Maanviljelijäin Puolue'') 1927–1929 *
United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political ...
(''Yhteisrintama'') 193?–1940 * New Finnish Party (''Uusi Suomalainen Puolue'') 1932–1945 * Finnish Socialist Party (''Suomalaissosialistinen Puolue'') 1932–1937 *
Patriotic People's Party The Patriotic People's Party ( Finnish: , IKP) was a Finnish Nazi party in the early 1930s, led by mason Ernest Hedborg. The IKP was preceded by the Congress of the National Workers' Party, formed in the autumn of 1931. IKP was founded on 16 Ma ...
(''Isänmaallinen Kansanpuolue'') 1932–1933 * Finnish People's Organisation (''Suomen Kansan Järjestö'') 1933–1936 * Finnish-Socialist Workers' Party (''Suomalaissosialistinen Työväen Puolue'') 1934–1944 *
Finnish Labor Front The Finnish Labor Front ( Finnish: , ST) was a Nazi party in Finland during the 1930s. The Finnish Labor Front was founded in August 1936 and registered in January 1937. The founders , and had previously been active in the Finnish People's ...
(''Suomen Työrintama'') 1936–1939 * Party of Finnish National Work (''Suomalais-Kansallisen Työn Puolue'') 1939–? * Finnish National Socialist Labor Organisation (''Suomen Kansallissosialistinen Työväenpuolue'') 1940–1943 *
Neo-Socialist Party Neosocialism was a political faction that existed in France and Belgium during the 1930s and which included several revisionist tendencies in the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO). During the 1930s, the faction gradually dis ...
(''Uus-sosialistinen puolue'') 1940–1945 *
Organisation of National Socialists The Organisation of National Socialists (Finnish: , KSJ) was a Finnish Nazi party operating in 1940–1944. It was founded and led by Arvi Kalsta, and the party was a continuation of Kalsta's earlier party Finnish People's Organisation. The party ...
(''Kansallissosialistien Järjestö'') 1940–1944 *
National Socialists of Finland The National Socialists of Finland (Finnish: , SKS) was a Finnish National Socialist party operating in 1941–1944, led by . The party's newspaper was the daily '' Kansallissosialisti'' (National Socialist) that was funded by Petter Forsström. ...
(''Suomen Kansallissosialistit'') 1941–1944 * Radical People's Party (''Radikaalinen Kansanpuolue'') 1944–1951 * Independent Middle Class (''Itsenäinen keskiluokka'') 1949–1951 * Finnish People's Party (''Suomalainen kansanpuolue'') 1950s * Independence Party (''Itsenäisyyspuolue'') 1960s * Party Organisation of Finnish Entrepreneurs (''Suomen Yksityisyrittäjäin Puoluejärjestö'') 1972–1979 * Socialist Workers' Party (''Sosialistinen Työväenpuolue'') 1973–1990 * Pensioners' Party of Finland (''Suomen Eläkeläisten Puolue'') 1985–1999 *
Joint Responsibility Party A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw ...
(''Yhteisvastuu puolue'') 1987–2007 * Senior Citizens' Party of Finland (''Suomen Senioripuolue''), 1990–2014 * Women's Party (''Naisten puolue'') 1990–1995 * Party of Humanity (''Ihmisyydenpuolue'') 1991–1995 * Finnish People's Blue-whites (''Suomen Kansan Sinivalkoiset'', SKS) 1993–2010 *
Patriotic People's Movement Patriotic People's Movement ( fi, Isänmaallinen kansanliike, IKL, sv, Fosterländska folkrörelsen) was a Finnish nationalist and anti-communist political party. IKL was the successor of the previously banned Lapua Movement. It existed from 1 ...
(''Isänmaallinen kansanliike''), 1993–2010 *
Natural Law Party The Natural Law Party (NLP) is a transnational party founded in 1992 on "the principles of Transcendental Meditation", the laws of nature, and their application to all levels of government. At its peak, it was active in up to 74 countries; it co ...
(''Luonnonlain puolue'') 1994–2001 *
Workers' Party of Finland Workers' Party of Finland ( fi, Suomen Työväenpuolue, sv, Finlands Arbetarparti) is a left-wing political party in Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern ...
(''Suomen Työväenpuolue'') 1999–2018 * Forces for Change in Finland (''Muutosvoimat Suomi'') 2002–2007 *
For the Poor For the Poor ( Finnish: ''Köyhien Asialla'') is a Finnish political party, not situated anywhere on the traditional political map. It was founded in November 2002. The party is one of the smallest in Finland, as it has no seats in either the Par ...
(''Köyhien Asialla'') 2002–2015 * Blue and White Front (''Sinivalkoinen Rintama'') 2009–2015


See also

*
Parliament of Finland The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The ...
*
Government of Finland sv, Finlands statsråd , border = , image = File:Finnish Government logo.png , image_size = 250 , caption = , date = , state = Republic of Finland , polity = , coun ...
*
President of Finland The president of the Republic of Finland ( fi, Suomen tasavallan presidentti; sv, Republiken Finlands president) is the head of state of Finland. Under the Constitution of Finland, executive power is vested in the Finnish Government and the p ...
* Elections in Finland *
Politics of Finland The politics of Finland take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy. Finland is a republic whose head of state is President Sauli Niinistö, who leads the nation's foreign policy and is the supreme commander ...
*
List of political parties in Åland Åland has a multi-party system with numerous political parties, in which a party often has no chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments. Parties with elected representation at the natio ...
*
List of ruling political parties by country This is a list of ruling political parties by country, in the form of a table with a link to an overview of political parties in each country and showing which party system is dominant in each country. A political party is a political organiza ...


References


External links


NSD: European Election Database - Political parties of Finland
{{List of political parties in Europe
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 Bot ...
Political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
Political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...