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1. Main concepts

2. Institutions of representative democracy

Main concepts

In Finland, the rights of all young people to participate in planning, decision-making and implementing the matters related to their lives are well recognised in the law base starting from the Constitution. Since 2006, the Youth Act has specified youth participation and the right of young people to be heard as a legal obligation. Based on the newest version of the Youth Act (2016) Section 24 – 'Participation, consultation and influence':

‘… the local and central government authorities shall offer and organise opportunities for young people to be involved and exert an influence in the processing of issues related to local, regional and nationwide youth work and policies, or otherwise ensure that they are consulted in said contexts. Additionally, young people shall be consulted in matters that affect them.'

The Youth Act also states that every municipality (see: Glossary) should have an youth councils or similar youth advocacy group, which are set out in the Local Government Act (2015). As important as having the youth councils’ statutory at the municipal level, there are several other direct, participatory and deliberative democracy-related participation possibilities mentioned in the Local Government Act. What is also important to note, there has been an attempt to build the wellbeing service counties (see Glossary), which organise healthcare, social welfare and rescue services, as democratic – the Act on Wellbeing Services (in Finnish) mentions almost the same participation opportunities for the residents and service users. As said in both Acts, there is ‘a right to participate in and influence the activities.’ In addition to the right to vote in local elections (eligible voters) and youth councils, they mention a variety of possible ways to influence:

• Right to submit a referendum and vote in those (eligible voters)  
• Arranging opportunities for discussion, service planning and taking part in finance planning of the authority: local resident panels etc.
• Electing representatives of service users to municipal decision-making bodies
• Supporting independent planning of matters by residents etc.
• Right of initiative
• Older people’s councils
• Disability councils
• Requirements of sufficient communication and information sharing by the authority.

As mentioned in Youth Wiki/Finland 4.2 Administration and governance, the municipalities and the wellbeing services counties must, according to the Child Welfare Act (in Finnish), draw up a plan concerning the actions points to promote the wellbeing of children and young people, and to arrange and develop child welfare services. That is one example of the processes in which young people have their say. On the other hand, as the memo entitled ‘Resident participation and democracy in the strategies of the wellbeing services counties’ (2023) (in Finnish) created by the Ministry of Finance shows, there is a possibility to develop the ways participation is written into the strategies of the authorities. At the same time, efforts are made for progress, for example in 2024 in Lapland, its wellbeing services invites residents to have an influence on its participation programme, as well as its wellbeing and security plans (in Finnish).

Besides the self-governing regions (the wellbeing service counties) which started to function at the beginning of 2023, there are statutory joint municipal authorities called as Regional Councils (see Glossary), which are like a co-operative body of the municipalities existing in the same region. For example, these take care of regional planning. These joint municipal authorities have offered and continue to offer their own participation channels and strategies. For example, in Kainuu there has been a regional youth council since 2008 thanks to the high levels of engagement of young people, youth workers and politicians. Since the wellbeing service county was established (the geographical area is the same), the youth council related co-operation between the Kainuu region and county have been officially recognised by signing an agreement between these two organisations. For more see the webpage of the Regional Council of Kainuu, entitled Regional Youth Council. At the national level, the co-operative body  for municipal and wellbeing services counties-level youth councils is the Union of Local Youth Councils in Finland, see more of it and youth councils in general in Youth Wiki/Finland 5.3 Youth representation bodies.

The National Youth Work and Youth Policy Programme (2024-2027) and the forthcoming National Democracy Programme 2025 promise more participation possibilities for young people, as well as for those in vulnerable situations. For example, as mentioned in the press release (15.6.2022) of the Ministry of Justice entitled Report: Democratic deficit among immigrants and multilingual Finns must be fixed, the voice of immigrants and multilingual Finns is not being heard in decision-making and public debate. The report was published by the Advisory Board for Ethnic Relations (ETNO) and it examined what kind of barriers to participation and exerting influence in society there were among immigrants and multilingual Finns, and presented solutions for eliminating such barriers. 

Institutions of representative democracy

Finland is a centralised parliamentary democracy. Power in Finland is vested in the people, who are represented by deputies assembled in Parliament. Legislative power is exercised by Parliament, with the President of the Republic having only a minor role. The Cabinet of Finland is the highest level of government of the state, which consists of the Prime Minister and a requisite number of ministers. Members of the Government shall have the confidence of the Parliament.

Local authorities (municipalities, see the Glossary) have broad responsibility for the provision of basic services to citizens. They have strong self-government based on local democracy and decision-making, and the right to levy taxes. In municipalities, the highest decision-making authority is vested in local councils that are elected by local residents. The Local Councils also send their representatives to the Regional Council which is the council of the region’s statutory joint municipal authority (see the Glossary).

As mentioned in the website ‘Elections’ of the Ministry of Justice entitled County Council, ‘the highest decision-making power in each wellbeing services county will be exercised by a county council, the members and deputy members of which will be elected in county elections. Each county council term lasts the duration of four years. From 2025 onwards, county elections will be held in conjunction with municipal elections.’ (More about wellbeing services counties, see the Glossary). Also, the President of the Republic is elected by a direct vote (for more information see the website ‘Elections’ of the Ministry of Justice).

Finland has a multi-party electoral system. Electors (those eligible to vote) vote directly for the person they want to be elected. Voting is voluntary and a person entitled to vote may vote either 1) in advance or 2) by ballot on election day. Voters may cast their votes at the polling station stated in the voting register and on the polling card sent to them before the elections.