Finnish Voter Barometer April 2002

The survey studied Finnish political attitudes, and opinions on political parties. Respondents' views on the constitutional reform of the year 2000 were also probed. Respondents were asked how favourable their opinion was regarding the Finnish Social Democratic Party, the Centre Party of Finland, the National Coalition Party, the Left Alliance and the Green League and how tempted respondents would be to vote for these parties. A number of attributes (e.g. incompetent leaders, competence in EU issues) were listed and respondents were asked to which party they could be applied. Opinions on which goals receive too much or too little attention in politics were charted; goals mentioned included employment, equality, national economy, housing, lowering taxes, prevention of inflation, crime and poverty. Voting behaviour was studied by asking which party the respondent would vote for if the parliamentary elections were held at that moment and whether he/she had voted in the 2000 municipal elections and in the 1999 parliamentary elections. Voting in parliamentary elections in general, voting intention regarding the next election, and the overall importance of voting were surveyed. Further questions covered respondents' political orientation (on the left-right axis) and social class. Respondents' views on the reform of the Finnish constitution were studied by asking whether they were familiar with the booklet that was posted to them and whether it had raised their interest in the matter. They were also asked about other sources of information and the importance of the reform. Furthermore, opinions on the main changes were charted: reduction of the powers of the president and the increase of basic rights and liberties of citizens. Background variables included respondents' year of birth, gender, marital status, mother tongue, annual gross income, place of residence, province, occupational group, employment sector, trade union membership, basic and vocational education, accommodation type and household composition.