Television vaikutus vuoden 1983 eduskuntavaalien tuloksiin

Authors

• Matti Oksanen

Abstract

Since the 1960’s Finland has experienced three »Television» elections. In the parliamentary election of 1966 the televised political debate was a significant factor. Again, in the 1970 parliamentary election television was widely blamed for bringing the »protest» Rural Party to the Eduskunta. In the Presidential Election of 1982 a highly partial audience saw their new hero, Dr. Mauno Koivisto, almost lose face in the televised test of his political skills. The audience then reacted in typically Finnish fashion by actually increasing their support for their political darling. The TV-inter- viewers were chastised for finding »such nasty questions to ask that nice Dr. Koivisto». In the 1983 parliamentary election the televised debates were seen as a cause for the non-arrival of much-heralded conservative victory and for bringing the populist Rural Party back to the centre of the parliamentary stage with 17 seats and a first-time role in the Cabinet. The findings of this article indicate that the televised debates acted as a major cause for the unexpected results. The positive TV-images of the Rural Party and its chairman Pekka Vennamo are inevitably linked with the victory of the Rural Party (R2 = 0.16). Equally, the negative TV-image of the Conservative Party and the performance of its chairman Ilkka Suominen can be seen as a partial explanation for thwarting the forecasted Conservative victory (R2 = —0.23). The positive images of the SDP (R2 = 0.19), Centre Party (R2 = 0.09), and the Swedish People’s Party were of some help in securing their victories, but the relatively fair performance of Kalevi Kivistö (R2 = 0.10) could not save the People’s Democrats from their worst failure. The negative TV-images of the minor parties and their chairmen have been integrally linked with the major drop in their support. Taking the evidence at face value means that one out of five voters has been designated a TV-voter in the parliamentary election of 1983.