Party Propaganda in Motion: Finland 1954–1991

This study addresses itself to the election campaigns of political parties in Finland and the changes which have taken place over time. Political parties are no longer strictly defined by ideology-rigid class structures have disappeared; and the primary hypothesis is that the parties have grown increasingly similar with respect to propaganda techniques and voter orientation. The empirical data in this study are based on the election platforms and campaign posters of the four largest parties in preparation for the parliamentary elections of 1954, 1966, 1975, 1987 and 1991. In order to elucidate the election propaganda of the political parties even further, a partial examination has been made of election campaign advertising by individual parties and candidates in four political affiliated newspapers as well as in an independent daily newspaper.
The primary hypothesis is clearly supported by this research: political parties have structured their rhetoric to appeal to all voters as opposed to having earlier directed their message to a traditional voter class/category, such as farmers, manual workers and white collar workers. The Communist party platform of 1975, which displayed a high degree of class/category specific orientation, constitutes an exception from this rule. The use of offensive propaganda has decreased, but there are exceptions from this rule as well. This article serves as a summary of the main findings of my licentiate thesis in political science at the Abo Academy University.     

Social Security area population projections: 1987

The following article, first published as Actuarial Study No. 99, describes the population projections that underlie the long-range cost estimates for the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program, which are included in the 1987 Report of the OASDI Board of Trustees. The projections start from a recent estimate of the population in the Social Security Area by age, sex, and martial status and from an estimate of existing marriages by age of husband and age of wife. Three separate projections, denoted Alternatives I, II, and III, are developed by analyzing historical data and making three different sets of assumptions about future net immigration, birth rates, and death rates.     

Designing Economic Development Incentives: The Case of Industrial Development Bonds in Chicago: 1977–1987

This article explores how the overall policy system affects the operation of economic development programs by presenting a case study of the City of Chicago's Industrial Development Bond (IDB) program between 1977–1987. By comparing Chicago IDB recipients with a representative group of Chicago manufacturers, this case study reveals that IDBs went to a self-selected group of manufacturers of larger size, that were already growing, but belonged to declining manufacturing sectors. Overall, despite bold promises, IDB recipients created few new jobs.     

Changes in the PSI leadership: the national executive committee and its membership (1976–1987)

Abstract. This paper deals with the role and composition of the Italian Socialist Party's National Executive Committee during the 1976–1987 period. These years saw the advent, the strengthening and the unchallenged supremacy of Craxi's leadership first within the PSI and then within the Italian political system. While in other political parties the role of the National Executive Committee as a decision-making body has remained crucial, in the PSI this role seems to have been impaired both by Craxi's extremely personal and strong leadership and by the weakness of the party organization. However, the loss of decision-making power by the collective leadership was accompanied by an increase in membership, which favoured the rise of new members to leading positions. The social and political characteristics of this new political class are analysed and evaluated through a number of empirical indicators. The results allow a better understanding of the actual changes that occurred in the party as a consequence of the innovations brought about by Craxi's leadership. This, in turn, sheds light on an important section of the Italian ruling class.     

Social Capital and Political Trust in Finland: An Individual-level Assessment

Political trust has in previous studies mainly been associated, either positively or negatively with a set of political variables, such as subjective knowledge of and interest in political issues, political efficacy, national pride, post-materialist values and corruption permissiveness. More recently, it has been debated whether or not indicators of social capital also have an impact on political trust. It has been argued that social capital helps to sustain civic virtues and that lack of it will create democratic problems like political dissatisfaction and declining political participation. While trends in social capital seem stable and high at the aggregate level in Finland, the level of political trust has varied to a much larger degree. In this article, indicators of social capital, political variables and social background variables are set against the Finns' trust in politicians and the parliament as well as their satisfaction with democracy. The analysis shows that social capital, as defined by a set of variables comprised of interpersonal trust and voluntary organisational activism, does not, en bloc, prove to be a powerful predictor of political trust. However, when the social capital items are examined as single factors, interpersonal trust seems to have strong impact on all levels of political trust, while the influence of voluntary organisational activity is less evident.     

ADMINISTRATIVE POLICY MAKING: ADJUDICATION BY THE BOARD OF IMMIGRATION APPEALS IN ASYLUM-RELATED APPEALS 1980–1987

This analysis examines the extent to which the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), from 1980 to 1987, complied with a new policy of Congress, set forth in the Refugee Act of 1980, which called for an elimination of bias in favor of aliens from hostile countries. Statistical analysis reveals that the BIA did not enforce the Refugee Act of 1980. I argue that Congress never intended to eliminate this bias since doing so would bring it into conflict with actors within the executive branch (including the President and the State Department) that have traditionally dominated policy-making relating to refugees and asylees. Instead, in the Refugee Act of 1980, Congress allowed these actors to retain control through a broad definition of "refugee" and by failing to clearly specify standards for political asylum and withholding of deportation. Simultaneously, Congress temporarily placated private and public "refugee rights" interest groups with statutory provisions that (presumably) eliminated the hostile country bias in U.S. refugee and asylum admis- sions, and granted increased federal aid to private organizations and units of state and local governments.     

Sex-Based Occupational Segregation in U.S. State Bureaucracies, 1987–97

Is the extent of sex-based occupational segregation in U.S. state bureaucracies related to agency policy missions? Drawing on arguments by Lowi (1985), we contend that levels of sex-based occupational segregation in state bureaucracies vary depending on whether an agency's policy mission is distributive, regulatory, or redistributive. We employ data on the distribution of administrative and professional employees by sex in several types of state agencies across all 50 states for 1987–97. Our findings indicate high levels of occupational segregation among administrative cadres in agencies with distributive and regulatory policy commitments; however, professional workforces in these agencies have become less gender segregated over time. We find no evidence of occupational segregation among administrative and professional workforces in redistributive agencies. We argue that researchers need to examine the relationship between glass walls and other kinds of sex-based employment impediments, such as glass ceilings.     

Social Upheaval and Transformation of Elite Structures: The Case of Finland

The purpose of this study is to ascertain how certain important changes in Finnish society in the 1990s altered the national elite structures and affected democracy. We examine how the patterns of recruitment, interaction and cohesiveness among the elites changed in the period 1991–2001. The data for the study were drawn mainly from postal surveys conducted among the elites and a sample of the population in 1991 and 2001. The first research task was to establish how recruitment to various elites has altered in terms of social stratification and education. The second was to analyse changes in patterns of interaction between various elites as far as physical contacts and attitudes were concerned. The third was to study the relationship between the elites and the general population on the basis of attitudinal affinity. The conclusions were based on theoretical models characterising various elite structures and their interconnections with democracy. The concept of a responsive elite is developed on the grounds of the theory of democratic elitism. The changes in the Finnish elite structure have meant a passage towards an inclusive structure compatible with democracy rather than towards an exclusive elite configuration. Finnish elites have become more open and more diverse.     

Do Candidates Matter? Constituency-specific Vote Changes for Incumbent MPs, 1983–1987

The assumption that candidates make a difference to electoral outcomes in British general elections is tested through a comparison of the 1983 and 1987 general elections. Incumbent's Constituency-specific Vote Change (ICVC) between the June 1983 and June 1987 British general elections is measured by subtracting the average regional vote change for the incumbent's party from the constituency vote change registered by the incumbent. Regression analysis finds ICVC to be most significantly influenced in both the Labour and Conservative parties by the incumbent's length of tenure, displayed especially in the higher ICVC registered by first-term incumbents than by more senior incumbents. Variables indicating the security or insecurity of the seat in electoral terms are significantly related to ICVC in the Conservative but not in the Labour case. The findings for Labour indicate ICVC to be greater where electoral security is greater. This finding might be explained by successful Conservative party concentration on constituencies in which Labour incumbents appear to be vulnerable.     

Incomes Policy in Finland: Economic and Social Effects in a Comparative Perspective

This paper examines the performance of the Finnish economy during the so-called incomes policy period, 1969-80. For this purpose Finland is compared with the other OECD countries both before and during the incomes policy period. The results suggest that in terms of economic growth, inflation and unemployment, Finnish economy has improved its performance, particularly before the economic recession of the mid-seventies. Cross-national comparisons point out that the recession has been met in various ways: some countries have restrained inflation, some unemployment. Secondly, the paper examines the effects of incomes policy agreements on the growth of social expenditure, the result being that incomes policy cannot be regarded as responsible for the growth of social expenditure in Finland. Thirdly, effects on income distribution are analyzed. Here incomes policy has played a role: income inequalities diminished during the first five years of incomes policy. Since then, they have not changed. The paper ends by discussing the impact and nature of incomes policy.     

Swedish Corporatism in Social Welfare Policy, 1986–1994: An Empirical Examination

Recent literature suggests that Swedish politics is decorporatizing. This article reports on the results of a survey of Swedish interest groups active in social welfare policy, administered in 1986 and 1994. The results cast considerable doubt on the decorporatization thesis. Little change is discernible between the two surveys on indicators of key corporatist behaviours on the part of interest groups and government. The immediate goal of the article is to provide evidence that the Swedish system is not, in fact, decorporatizing to the extent cited in recent literature. A larger aim, however, is to push the study of corporatism in a more empirical direction. The value of the theory will be enhanced if researchers are more precise about what it means and what behaviours should follow from it.