Miksi ruotsinkieliset äänestävät enemmän kuin suomenkieliset?
Keywords:
voter turnout, linguistic minorities, social capital, ethnic parties, party identificationAbstract
Swedish-speaking Finns – unlike other linguistic minorities – consistently vote significantly more actively in Finnish elections compared to Finnish-speaking Finns, which is unlikely to be explained solely by belonging to a linguistic minority. Previous research suggests that linguistic and ethnic minorities may benefit from higher binding social capital, that is, tight networks between similar people, and the opportunity for easier voting decisions offered by their own ethnic parties. However, it has not been extensively studied among minorities in equal socioeconomic positions with the majority. This study examines to what extent social capital and identification with an ethnic party explain the difference in voter turnout. The results of the article show that the higher voter turnout of Swedish-speaking Finns compared to Finnish-speaking Finns is entirely explained by their higher social capital and identification with SPP.
