The Finnish Ministry of Justice initiated the Citizens’ Jury on Finnish Democracy (Kansalaisnäkökulma suomalaisen demokratian tilaan, ongelmiin ja ratkaisuihin) while preparing for the Government Report on Democracy Policy. Participating citizens deliberated over 2 days in 2013.
Problems and Purpose
Background History and Context
Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities
The Ministry of Justice Finland initiated a citizens’ jury on Finnish democracy as part of the preparation of the Government Report on Democracy Policy. Through an open call they selected Finnish Centre for Consumer Research and Citizens’ Forum (educational organization) as their partner organizations to run the practicalities of the jury. [1]
Participant Recruitment and Selection
A recruitment letter was sent to 2,000 people asking them to register. Upon registration, individuals were asked to complete a questionnaire surveying their age, gender, education, mother tongue, province of residence, voting behaviour, and participation in social activities. 52 people volunteered, of whom 30 were selected for the jury to ensure representation. The first meeting (June 8, 2013) was finally attended by 22 citizens. For the second meeting, the group was supplemented with eight individuals, six of whom were selected by the Consumer Research Centre’s Consumer Panel members. Ultimately, 27 citizens participated (September 14, 2013). A total of 29 people took part in the jury, 20 of whom were involved in both rounds. [2]
The composition of the jury did not fully correspond to the ideal. The majority of the members were over 50 years old and there were fewer people aged 40-49 than other age groups. 26 participants were native speakers of Finnish, two Swedish and one Russian. Those who did not vote were underrepresented, about a third of participants were involved in social activities, and one in four was a member of some party. Geographically, the jury was quite well representative of the population. Only from Lapland and the Kainuu region there were no participants. [2]
Methods and Tools Used
What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
The jury produced a report (in the form of a table) listing the 12 most important problems in Finnish democracy and 1-2 solutions to these problems. This report was handled by the Ministry of Justice where the problems and recommendations were incorporated into the Government Report on Democracy Policy, submitted to the Finnish Parliament in 2014. In the final report, the citizens’ jury stressed the following problems in Finnish democracy: too few referendums, party discipline, the symbolic role of Parliament, inaccessibility of political processes in the Parliament, too little online participation, a gap between voters and politicians, issues of information, non-critical ratification of EU-decisions, corruption at the EU level, too much power for consultants in local decision-making, low voter turnout, and the accumulation of political positions to the same people. [1]
Analysis and Lessons Learned
See Also
References
[1] Paulis, Emilien; Pilet, Jean-Benoit; Panel, Sophie; Vittori, Davide; Close, Caroline, 2020, "POLITICIZE Dataset", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/Z7X6GT, Harvard Dataverse, V1
[2] Peura-Kapanen, Liisa; Rask, Mikko; Saastamoinen, Mika; Tuorila, Helena; and Aaro Harju. (2013). Kansalaisraati suomalaista demokratiaa kehittämässä. https://oikeusministerio.fi/documents/1410853/4735113/Kansalaisraati_suomalaista_demokratiaa_kehittamassa.pdf...
External Links
Notes
This entry is based on the POLITICIZE dataset. More information can be found at the following links:
- Paulis, Emilien; Pilet, Jean-Benoit; Panel, Sophie; Vittori, Davide; Close, Caroline, 2020, "POLITICIZE Dataset", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/Z7X6GT, Harvard Dataverse, V1
- Pilet J-B, Paulis E, Panel S.,Vitori D & Close C. 202X The POLITICIZE Dataset: an inventory of Deliberative Mini-Publics (DMPs) in Europe. European Political Science.