Parties and Local Democracy 1996: Electors

The survey compared Finnish voters with the members of seven largest political parties, candidates of the 1996 municipal elections and municipal council members. The respondents were asked which party they would vote for in the next parliamentary elections and which party they had voted for in the municipal elections. If the respondents had voted in the municipal elections, reasons for candidate and party choice were surveyed. Non-voters were asked why they had not voted. The role of the media in municipal elections was charted. There were questions about the members' activity in the parties and their interest in elective offices. The respondents were presented with statements concerning municipal policy and politics in general. They were asked to assess to what extent the work of councillors is appreciated, whether they saw themselves as representatives of their background groups in their parties, and how important it was that the municipal council was representative of the municipal electorate. The present state and development needs of a number of municipal services and tasks were evaluated. The party members were questioned about how municipal democracy, service production and efficiency of decision-making could be improved. Finally, the respondents were asked who had real influence in their home municipality, how active party members they thought themselves to be, and how active their own local association was. Background variables included the respondent's sex, age, occupational group, vocational education, type of employer, household income, type of residence, and municipality of residence.

本调查将芬兰选民与七家最大政党成员、1996年市政选举的候选人和市政议会成员进行了对比。受访者被询问他们在下一届议会选举中会为哪个政党投票，以及他们在市政选举中为哪个政党投票。对于曾参与市政选举的受访者，调查了他们选择候选人及政党的原因。未投票者则被询问他们未投票的原因。调查还描绘了媒体在市政选举中的作用。调查中包含有关议员在党派内活动以及他们对公职兴趣的问题。受访者被呈现了关于市政政策和一般政治的陈述，并被要求评估议员工作的受认可程度，他们是否将自己视为其背景群体在党内的代表，以及市政议会作为市政选民代表的程度之重要性。对一系列市政服务和任务的当前状态及发展需求进行了评估。党派成员被询问如何改善市政民主、服务生产和决策效率。最后，受访者被询问在他们所在的家乡，谁拥有实际影响力，他们认为自己在党派成员中的活跃程度如何，以及他们的地方协会的活跃程度如何。背景变量包括受访者的性别、年龄、职业群体、职业教育、雇主类型、家庭收入、居住类型以及居住市镇。