Finnish Local Government Barometer 2005: Inhabitants

The survey focused on the project to restructure local government and local government services in Finland. The respondents were asked to what extent they agreed with a number of statements relating to municipalities (e.g. everyone who wants can influence decisions in his/her municipality of residence, my municipality should be merged with the neighbouring municipality/ities, municipal services should be increased rather than cut). Views were probed on whether municipal services had improved, got worse or stayed the same over the past two years. Other topics included whether the present municipality structure, merged municipalities or regional areas would be the best basis for providing particular services (child day care, education, care of the elderly, primary health care, library services etc.), and who should provide these services (the municipality itself or private service providers). The respondents were asked for which services the citizens themselves should carry a larger financial or operational responsibility, and what strategies would be acceptable for improving the finances of the municipality. Opinions on the optimal number of municipalities and municipality mergers were charted. One question explored what would be good arguments for diminishing the number of municipalities. Finally, the respondents were asked who held the real power in the municipality. Background variables included the respondent's gender, age, economic activity and occupational status, type of neighbourhood, age(s) and number of children, education, employment status, household income, household composition, region of residence (NUTS3), economic activity and occupational status of the household's main earner, who in the household was responsible for everyday shopping, which political party R would vote for if the parliamentary elections were held at that time, and which political party R had voted for in the last municipal election.

该调查聚焦于芬兰地方政府及地方公共服务重构的项目。受访者被询问他们对一系列与市镇相关的声明（例如，任何希望者均可影响其居住市镇的决策，我的市镇应与邻近市镇合并，市政服务应增加而非削减）的认同程度。调查还探究了在过去两年中市政服务是否有所改善、变差或保持不变。其他议题包括当前市镇结构、合并市镇或区域范围是否为提供特定服务（儿童日托、教育、老年人护理、初级卫生保健、图书馆服务等）的最佳基础，以及应由谁提供这些服务（市镇自身或私营服务提供商）。受访者还被询问公民应承担更大财务或运营责任的服务项目，以及哪些策略对于改善市镇财政是可接受的。调查还描绘了关于市镇数量及合并的最佳意见。一个问题探讨了减少市镇数量的良好论据。最后，受访者还被询问在市镇中谁掌握着实际权力。背景变量包括受访者的性别、年龄、经济活动及职业状况、邻里类型、子女年龄及数量、教育程度、就业状况、家庭收入、家庭构成、居住地区（NUTS3）、家庭主要收入者的经济活动及职业状况、谁负责家庭日常购物、如果议会选举在此时期举行，受访者将投票支持的政治党派R，以及上次市镇选举中受访者所投票的政治党派R。