Finnish Local Government Barometer 2004: Inhabitants

The Local Government Barometer 2004 was conducted in the year of municipal elections. The survey charts citizens' opinions on their own possibilities of influence, ways to improve those possibilities, decision-making powers of municipal managers and the importance of local politicians and political parties. The respondents were also asked to rate the adequacy of various municipal services, such as children's day care, care for the elderly, medical centres and income support. Their interest in different forms of social participation (e.g. serving in elective offices or taking part in voluntary organisations) was examined. Characteristics of a good municipal councillor were studied. The respondents were presented with a set of attitudinal statements which pertained to local government and municipal services. They assessed the efficiency, functionality and paternalism of Finnish municipal system, considered the privatisation of public services, and evaluated the powers of officials. In conclusion, respondents were asked how they perceive themselves as voters in municipal elections. Background variables included the respondent's age, gender, occupational group, type of municipality, level of education, economic activity, province and county of residence, gross income of household, number of household members, household composition, choice of political party if parliamentary elections were held now and in the previous parliamentary elections.

2004年地方政务晴雨表调查在市政选举年进行。该调查绘制了市民对其自身影响力可能性、提升这些可能性的途径、市政管理人员决策权力以及地方政治家及政党重要性的观点图表。受访者还被要求对各种市政服务（如儿童日托、老年人护理、医疗中心和收入支持）的适当性进行评级。研究还考察了受访者对不同形式的社会参与（例如担任选举职务或参与志愿者组织）的兴趣。研究分析了优秀市政委员的特征。受访者被呈现一系列与地方政府和市政服务相关的态度陈述，他们评估了芬兰市政制度的效率、功能和父权主义，考虑了公共服务私有化的可能性，并评估了官员的权力。最终，受访者被询问他们如何将自己视为市政选举中的选民。背景变量包括受访者的年龄、性别、职业群体、市政类型、教育水平、经济活动、居住省份和县、家庭总收入、家庭成员数量、家庭构成、如果现在举行议会选举和上次议会选举，他们将选择的政党。