Significant Finnish trade unions include SAK, STTK, AKAVA, and EK. == History == === Autonomous but under Russian rule === A Finnish political identity and distinctively Finnish politics first developed under the Russian rule in the country from 1809 to 1917.
Finnish journals were founded, and Finnish became an official language in 1863.
Those advocating full rights for Finnish-speakers formed the so-called Fennoman group that by the 1890s had split into the Old Finns and the Young Finns, the former mainly concerned with the language question, the latter urging the introduction of political liberalism.
Petersburg began to deteriorate in the 1890s.
In 1903 it became the Finnish Social Democratic Party (Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue or SDP).
In retrospect, the campaign can be seen as a failure, but for several decades it caused much turmoil within Finland, reaching its most extreme point with the assassination of the governor general in 1904.
The first Russian revolution, that of 1905, allowed Finns to discard their antiquated Diet and to replace it with a unicameral legislature, the Eduskunta, elected through universal suffrage.
The regular parliamentary term is four years; however, the president may dissolve the eduskunta and order new elections at the request of the prime minister and after consulting the speaker of parliament. The parliament has, since equal and common suffrage was introduced in 1906, been dominated by secular Conservatives, the Centre Party (former Agrarian Union), and Social Democrats.
At the same time labor was organizing itself, the farmers began a cooperative movement; in 1907 they formed the Agrarian Party (Maalaisliitto).
The first national election, that of 1907, yielded Europe's largest social democratic parliamentary faction.
Nevertheless, none of these has held a single-party majority, with the notable exception of 1916 elections where Social Democrats gained 103 of the 200 seats.
Significant Finnish trade unions include SAK, STTK, AKAVA, and EK. == History == === Autonomous but under Russian rule === A Finnish political identity and distinctively Finnish politics first developed under the Russian rule in the country from 1809 to 1917.
The campaign of "Russification" ended only with Finland's independence in 1917.
Nonetheless, frequent dissolutions at the hands of the tsar permitted the Eduskunta to achieve little before independence. === Independence and the inter-war period === The second Russian revolution allowed Finland to break away from the Russian empire, and independence was declared on December 6, 1917.
Within weeks, domestic political differences led to a Finnish Civil War that lasted until May 1918, when right-wing forces, with some German assistance, were able to claim victory.
The first iteration of the constitution was adopted on July 17, 1919.
They enjoy local autonomy by virtue of an international convention of 1921, implemented most recently by the Act on Åland Self-Government of 1951.
In 1937 the party formed the first of the so-called Red-Earth coalitions with the Agrarian League, the most common party combination of the next fifty years, one that brought together the parties representing the two largest social groups.
Accordingly, the Soviet Union launched an attack of Finland in November 1939.
A valiant Finnish defense slowed the invaders, but in March 1940 the Winter War ended when Finland agreed to cede to the Soviets about 10 percent of Finnish territory and to permit a Soviet military base on Finnish soil.
In June 1941 Finland joined Germany as cobelligerent in its attack on the Soviet Union.
In the fall of 1944, Finland made a separate peace with the Soviet Union, one that was conditional on its ceding territory, granting basing rights, agreeing to onerous reparation payments, and expelling German forces from its territory.
After 1944, Communists were a factor to consider for a few decades, and the Finnish People's Democratic League, formed by Communists and others to the left of Social Democrats, was the largest party after 1958 elections.
After the [of the Soviet Union (1985-1991)|collapse of the Soviet Union] in 1991, Finland freed itself from the last restrictions imposed on it by the Paris peace treaties of 1947.
Nevertheless, Finland succeeded in being one of only two belligerents in Europe that stayed never occupied, independent and with its democracy intact throughout the war, the other being the United Kingdom. By the early 1950s, the patterns of postwar Finnish politics were established.
They enjoy local autonomy by virtue of an international convention of 1921, implemented most recently by the Act on Åland Self-Government of 1951.
Kekkonen first became president in 1956, and secured a place for the conservative Agrarian League as almost a permanent governing party until the late 1980s.
After 1944, Communists were a factor to consider for a few decades, and the Finnish People's Democratic League, formed by Communists and others to the left of Social Democrats, was the largest party after 1958 elections.
In 1966 it changed its name to the Center Party (Keskustapuolue or Keskusta) in an attempt to appeal to a broader segment of the electorate, but it still was not successful in penetrating southern coastal Finland.
By late 1980s, it seemed a spent force, but arose again as a populist right-wing party after changing its name to Perussuomalaiset or True Finns. After the 1966 national elections President Kekkonen succeeded in forming a popular front coalition government that contained communists, socialists, and members of the Center Party.
The first of these, the Liinamaa Agreement, dated from 1968.
It scored its first big successes in the 1970 national elections.
The National Coalition Party (Kansallinen Kokoomuspuolue or Kokoomus), rigidly conservative in the interwar period, gradually became more moderate and grew stronger, surpassing the Center Party in the number of parliamentary seats in 1979.
Kekkonen first became president in 1956, and secured a place for the conservative Agrarian League as almost a permanent governing party until the late 1980s.
In the 1980s, the communists had severe problems adjusting to new social conditions, and they split into several warring groups.
The Liberal Party of the postwar period was never strong, and it had a negligible role by the 1980s and eventually was dissolved. A number of smaller parties, protest parties, and parties representing quite distinct groups filled out the list of about a dozen organizations that regularly vied for public office.
By late 1980s, it seemed a spent force, but arose again as a populist right-wing party after changing its name to Perussuomalaiset or True Finns. After the 1966 national elections President Kekkonen succeeded in forming a popular front coalition government that contained communists, socialists, and members of the Center Party.
By the 1980s, consensus politics had become so dominant that some observers claimed that Finnish politics, long so bitter and contentious, had become the most boring in Western Europe.
By the 1980s, the process was so regular as to seem institutionalized.
Support for Communists decreased sharply in the early 1980s, while later on the same decade environmentalists formed the Green League, which is now one of the largest parties.
Pensioners and activist Christians each had their own party, and environmentalists won several seats in the 1983 and the 1987 national elections — a movement which later grew to the modern Green Party during the 1990s.
The cabinet put in place after the 1983 elections, consisting mainly of social democrats and members of the Center Party, completed its whole term of office, the first government to do so in the postwar period.
Excluded from a role in government for decades, possibly because it had been more right-wing earlier, the Kokoomus participated in the government formed after the national elections of 1987, supplying the prime minister, Harri Holkeri.
Pensioners and activist Christians each had their own party, and environmentalists won several seats in the 1983 and the 1987 national elections — a movement which later grew to the modern Green Party during the 1990s.
Pensioners and activist Christians each had their own party, and environmentalists won several seats in the 1983 and the 1987 national elections — a movement which later grew to the modern Green Party during the 1990s.
After the [of the Soviet Union (1985-1991)|collapse of the Soviet Union] in 1991, Finland freed itself from the last restrictions imposed on it by the Paris peace treaties of 1947.
The Finnish-Soviet Agreement of Friendship, Co-operation, and Mutual Assistance (and the restrictions included therein) was annulled but Finland recognised the Russian Federation as the successor of the USSR and was quick to draft bilateral treaties of goodwill as well as reallocating Soviet debts. Finland deepened her participation in the European integration by joining the European Union with Sweden and Austria in 1995.
Although there were complaints that the agreements bypassed political channels or excluded minority opinion, the obvious prosperity they had helped bring about made the incomes policy system and the politics of consensus highly popular. ==Constitution== The current version of the constitution of Finland was written on March 1, 2000.
Democratic decision-making takes place on either the municipal or national level with few exceptions. Until 2009, the state organization was divided into six provinces.
However, the provinces were abolished altogether in 2010.
As of 2017, there are 311 municipalities, which incorporate the entire country. === Indirect public administration === Indirect public administration supplements and supports the authorities in managing the tasks of the welfare society.
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