The Social Basis of the Vote: Class Voting in Finland

Abstract

In Finland, the class cleavage is reflected in the socioeconomic left-right cleavage. Historically, working-class voters have been on the left of the spectrum and supported socialist ideologies, whereas the bourgeois has been on the right of the spectrum. Utilizing two different survey-datasets (Finnish National Election study and EVA Surveys on Finnish Values and Attitudes) and two class-voting indexes, Alford’s index and Lambda index, the study delves into the strength of social class as a determinant of party choice in Finland between years 1984 and 2019. The chapter considers two approaches to measuring voters’ class-positions: the most common class indicator, occupation, and voters’ own perception of their class position, subjective class identification. Results show that social class still plays a significant role in party choice, particularly among working-class voters who favour left-wing parties. Interestingly, when subjective class identification is used as an indicator of class position instead of occupation, the level of class voting remains even higher. This chapter contributes to a deeper understanding of the complexity of class voting in Finland’s electoral system and offers insights into the intersection of social structure and political behaviour.